


End With A Bow

by orphan_account



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Highschool! Au, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-26 17:40:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Styles is forced to go and live with his father in Doncaster following the divorce of his parents. Harry is not enthused to be dropped in an unfamiliar place although, a certain blue eyed boy could possibly change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Blue Eyed Beauty](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3129014) by [AllStar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllStar/pseuds/AllStar)



> Hello! This is my new fanfiction I've been working on, I thought of it while in my Drama class last year. There will be mature content later on down the track for all you horny buggers. ENJOY!

Harry stood in his bare room, nothing left but the wire bed frame that once supported his old mattress. He caught his refection on the mirror that hung on the back of the door; and he looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days. His curls were flattened to the side of his head and dark rings circled his eyes, the once bright irises a dull green. He gripped his suitcase tighter in his hands, stealing one more glance around the once welcoming room, before slipping out the door, tugging his suitcase after him. He ran his fingers along the white walls of the short hallway on his way to the stairs that led to the bottom level of his mother’s town house. Harry took each step gingerly, a feeling of nostalgia growing every inch he moved away from the safety of his childhood bedroom.

He reached the bottom of the stairs. His suitcase feeling a thousand times heavier as he pulled it along into the kitchen where his mother sat, her hand ripped tightly around a cup of cooling tea. Her head rose as she heard her son enter the room, lifting her face up to meet his eyes and tears instantly sprung into Harry’s eyes, He had been so strong until this moment. He hadn’t cried through the endless fights, he hadn’t cried when his dad had left, he hadn’t cried during the divorce, he hadn’t cried when his father had won custody, but now looking at the broken look the covered his mother’s features there was no stopping the hot tears that rolled down his face. Harry rushed forward, his suitcase forgotten in the doorway. His mum’s arms wrapped around him in a desperate hug, he could feel her own tears soaking into the material of his sweater  
“I’m so sorry, Harry” she whimpered into his chest and he clutched her tighter. He didn’t want to leave his mum, she needed him, but the only reason his father wants Harry is so that his mum can’t. She pulled back, brushing Harry’s dark brown curls from his eyes and cupped her hands around his face.

“You’ll call me won’t you? All the time? And you have to come home on the weekends and holidays?” She asked desperately and he pulled her back into another hug, his chin resting on her head.

“I promise, Mum. I love yo-” a sharp knock sounded from the front door cut off his words. The knock was quickly followed by another then a gruff shout. 

“C’mon Harry! We’ve got to get going!” Harry cringed at the sound of his father’s voice and he felt his mum do the same. He turned back to her, giving her an apologetic glance and pressing a light kiss to her cheek. She mumbled her goodbye but didn’t let go and neither did he until the knock came again. This time she stood up taking his hand in hers and leading him into the lounge room, Harry grabbing his suitcase on the way. She opened the front door and the house was instantly assaulted with the cold air from outside, along with the sight of the man leaning against the frame. 

“Hey, Son” he spoke clapping his hand against Harry’s shoulder. He didn’t reply as he gave his mum one last kiss and shoved past the other man on his way to the car. Placing his things in the back, he moved around so he was standing outside the passenger side door. Hearing the last part of his parents conversation

“You take care of him, you hear me?” his mother’s voice was full of venom as she glared at her ex-husband. The tension building up like a stretching rubber band 

“He’ll be fine, Anne. He’s seventeen, I’m sure he can look after himself.” His dad’s voice was just as harsh taking a step closer so he was looking down on the woman, and at that moment she looked so incredibly vulnerable. Harry could almost hear her heart breaking. 

“No, Des!” Anne screamed, and threw her arm in her son’s direction “He’s still my baby, no matter how old he gets!” His parents glared at each other for few tense moments before his father made his move to yell right back at her, but Harry stopped him with his own harshly spoken words

“Can you just not fight? For one day?” they both turned to look at him as if just remembering he was standing there, both of their eyes full of anger and frustration. “Please?” he asked more desperately and the look in his mother’s eyes softened but his father just gave a gruff of agreement before tuning and walking towards the car. His Mum stayed on the porch, watching Harry slide into the car with sad eyes. 

His father followed his actions, getting in the driver’s side a roaring the engine to life. Harry rested his head against the frosted glass, as the car sped down the road, trying hard to keep back the tears threatening to fall. It was a few tense moments before his father broke the tense silence. 

“So, you excited to be moving to Doncaster?” the man asked, looking at his son then quickly back at the road. Harry took his head off the window, turning in the seat to face his father, he looked at the man as if he’s just asked him for the answer of the most impossible maths question he could think of. 

“What?” his father asked, after Harry didn’t reply, risking another glance at him. His green eyes met the similar green eyes of his son’s, the only reaction Harry gave him was a scoff and subconscious shake of his head before pulling his iPod out of his pocket and placing the headphones securely over his ears, turning the volume as loud as it would go before pressing play. Drowning out all other noise, the heavy bass drummed through his head and he rested it on the glass once more and shut his eyes, if he was going to have to deal with his father for a few hours; he was more likely to survive it asleep.  
~*~  
Harry hadn’t woken up at all for the duration of the journey, only coming to when he felt his dad’s hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him awake. It was dark and cold outside the safety of the car, so it was with great reluctance that he brought himself to open the door and step out into the night. His father had offered to take up Harry’s suitcase, leaving Harry to only grab his back pack off the back seat and re-pocket his iPod. He sent his mum a quick text, letting her know he was there safely, no doubt she had been checking her phone every five minutes since he’d left. 

Inside the new house, it smelt peculiarly of wet paint and burnt cookies. Harry stood in the doorway awkwardly, not quite sure what to do. It was a nice house; his father had only bought it a few months ago and did it up, so it would look more contemporary. It had white wash walls with a grey, black and red theme and everything was either plastic, metal or glass, It was nice to say the least, but it didn’t feel like home. Home was the old wooden furniture in the lounge room, the soft carpet that covered the bedroom floors, the smell of vanilla air freshener, and the sound of Anne singing from the kitchen. Harry thought miserably to himself I might learn to live in this house, but it would never be home. 

“Okay mate” His dad’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. 

“Your bedroom is up the stairs, first door on your left” he said setting his suitcase down next to him. Harry nodded quickly, reaching for the handle and pulling it towards the stairs, when his father’s voice sounded again, “I was thinking about making dinner, what’ll you have?” 

“Not hungry.” he mumbled, his voice a little scratchy since it was the first time he’d used it since he’d been with his father. Harry’s stomach grumbled in protest to what he had said, but he ignored it. He’d rather be hungry than have to spend time with his father, dreading every word he spoke, every intake of breath, it was like being forces to live with him was the ultimate punishment, I must have been really bad in my previous life Harry thought. Pulling his suitcase up after him, he made his way up the stairs. 

He pushed the door open that led into his room. It was much bigger that the one at his mum’s house but that fact just made me feel more lonely. Despite its size the room was sparse, only a double bed sat in the middle of the room along with a few other pieces of furniture, like his desk that his dad had taken up the weekend before Harry had moved. All his other things were in boxes lined across the far wall. He dropped his suitcase after closing the door and shuffled over to the bed, flopping down onto the crisp duvet. The bed creaked slightly under his weight, which echoed around the room. 

Harry’s eyes were falling heavy with sleep as he curled further into the bed, pulling the blanket up around his chin. He had one last day for freedom before he’d have to start at his new school, on Monday. He wondered if he’d make any friends on the first day or if he’d be pushed against walls by the school jerks. He had not pondered it for long before he let sleep consume him.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Monday rolled round, Harry was almost thankful to be leaving for school, after having to spend the whole weekend with his father, he was open to any kind of escape even if it came in the form of heavy books and uncomfortable uniforms. 

That morning, he steered clear of the life ruiner he called his dad, purposely waiting for the man to leave a room before he entered. The school wasn’t far from the house, about a 15 minute walk and Harry had offered to go on foot to avoid any unnecessary company with his father. After wolfing down two pieces of toast and a glass of juice, he shrugged my jacket on, quickly followed his bag and fled from the house. 

Outside, it was cold. Frost lined the path that led away from the house, shining in the slight warmth of the sun’s rays. Harry pulled the collar of his blazer up around his neck, to keep in as much heat as possible, he placing his headphones in his ears and shoved his hands deep into the pockets of the school blazer.

~*~

The walk to the school grounds was quick and uneventful, only the sounds of bird calls accompanied the curly haired lad, but even they were drowned out by the music blearing into his brain. The school gate stretched out in false welcome as student and teachers alike rushed in and out. After making a quick survey he walked into the crowd, pushing past unknown faces until he stood outside, what he presumed, the office.

Harry pulled open the door and stepped inside, immediately greeted with a rush of warm air. He let out a sigh of relief, which was a bit louder than intended. The woman behind the desk eyed the tall boy suspiciously as he walked closer to where she sat; resting his forearms across the desk that she was perched behind. The receptionist’s pink lips stretching into a practiced but fake smile,  
“Can I help you, love?” she asked, placing down the pen she was using to scribble on a piece of paper and tilted forward towards the boy, leaning on her elbows. 

“I uh… I’m new?” Harry submitted and she nodded as if this explained the questions that danced in her eyes. Her smile fixed into a frown of concentration as she typed away on the keys of the computer in front of her.

“Alright, do you have your timetable yet?” she looked up quickly and he shook his head, a mess of unruly curls bouncing this way and that. Blood rushed to his ears and up his neck. Should I already have my timetable? _Should I already have my timetable? My dad didn’t give me any slips of paper or did he? No he definitely didn’t._ He thought worriedly. 

“That’s alright, love. I’ll just need your name and I’ll print you out a copy now.” Harry looked down at her expectant face. 

“Oh, it’s uh Harry” he mumbled, she smiled again, this time more genuine and a short chuckle escaped her shiny lips.

“I’m going to need your last name too, sweetie” a flush recoloured his cheeks and he let out a nervous laugh that mirrored the receptionists’. 

“Right, sorry. It’s Styles. Harry Styles.” She nodded once and resumed tapping away on the keys. After a moment she twisted in her chair to reach behind her, receiving the piece of paper from the printer and handing it to the boy in question. Harry look a quick glance around, the office was slowly starting to fill up with lost students and disconcerted parents.

“Since it’s your first day, I can get someone to show you around if you like?” she asked looking behind him at the mass of people. He nodded and mumbled his thanks as he looked down at the word covered sheet. Sixteen little boxes all filled with teacher’s names and room numbers. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the body that came to stand next to his. 

“Hey, Chrissy. Could you please hand these to Principal Higgins?” Harry looked up with enough time to see the boy who had spoken pass a pile of papers to the receptionist with a sweet smile.

“Sure thing” she replied tapping the papers on the desk to even them out before placing them to the side of the work top. The boy nodded and turned to walk away when the receptionists’ eyes lit up as she looked between Harry and the other boy. 

“Oh, Liam” she called after him and he turned back around to face her, raising his eyebrows in question. “This is Harry, he’s new” she gestured to the awkwardly standing boy, before continuing “would you mind showing him around for the day? You know, take him to his classes show him where the toilets are and what not?” 

Liam looked from Harry to her and back again, his big brown doe-like eyes crinkled at the sides as a smile bloomed on his face.   
“Sure” he held his hand out to Harry, in an offering of a shake. The curly haired boy returned the action and he continued to speak “I’m Liam Payne, by the way” Harry nodded once and released his hand.

“I’m Harry” he replied, feeling a little stupid. Liam’s smile deepened, walking over to the door and pushed it open. Harry watched after the brown haired boy who was looking at Harry expectantly, tilting his head toward the door. Realizing he was meant to be following Liam, he quickly stuffed his timetable in his pocket and hurried out after him.

The doe-eyed boy led harry out into the corridor from which he had just come, Liam leant closer to Harry so he could hear his voice over the loud bustle of teenagers.

“What do you have first?” he asked, though he wasn’t looking at Harry, he was instead watching the crowd buzz past, his eyes flicking over every face, he smile to most of them and waved at a few. It seemed Liam was quite well liked or at least well known. Harry pulled the paper back out of his pocket and bought it up to his face, analysing the little squares. 

“Uh… English, with Mr Baxter? Room 204.” he said after a moment, still looking down at the sheet. Liam’s hand came to clap down on his shoulder and Harry peered up to see his pleasant smile still plastered firmly to his features.

“Me, too. Come on, we better get going before we’re late” Harry gave what could have been a relieved smile as Liam steered him around so they were walking in the opposite direction. The halls were slowly beginning to empty as its occupants rushed off to their classes. 

The walk was a silent one, it was until about ten metres the classroom when Liam spotted a boy fixing his hair in the reflection of a nearby window. 

“Oi, Malik!” Liam called and the golden skinned boy gave a careless glance over his shoulder before turning back to admiring his reflection. Liam gave a delighted chuckle, walking over to the vain young man, leaving Harry to do nothing but follow. On closer inspection, the boy with dark meaningful eyes, caramel skin and jet black hair that rose above his head in a stiff quiff, was sporting the ‘bad boy’ look, quite successfully too, so much so Harry found himself shuffling slightly behind Liam, using the other male as a human shield. 

“Zayn” Liam addressed and the boy turned back around, both pairs of brown eyes meeting in a moment of silent conversation before the boy, Zayn, tore his eyes off Liam’s to look Harry up and down accusingly. Harry shuffled uncomfortably under his intense gaze, suddenly self-conscious. A mischievous smirk lit Zayn’s lips; his deep brown eyes came to focus on Harry’s bright, slightly frightened green ones. 

“Zayn” Liam repeated wearily, glancing quickly between Zayn and Harry, “this is Harry, He’s new.” Liam put emphasis on the word new and the green-eyed boy tore his eyes away from Zayn’s, instead concentrating on the flood , which had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. 

“He’s in our English class, so be nice.” Liam continued in the same wearily but authoritative tone. The tanned boy’s eyes lazily travelled back to Liam’s face and gave a small shrug, his smirk still clearly evident on his lips. 

“I’m Zayn Malik, If you haven’t already guessed” The boy’s Bradford accent laced his word as he held out his hand. After realizing he had been spoken to, Harry wiped his own sweaty hands on his trousers before reaching out and shaking it. Pleased with the exchange, Liam turned and continued walking down the hall way, towards the room. Zayn and Harry followed a beat later, their steps a few paces behind the boy in front when Zayn lent over so his lips hovered above Harry’s ear and whispered

“Sorry, ‘bout that, mate.” Harry’s head instantly snapped in Zayn’s direction and he continued, his voice still incredibly low “ It’s just fun riling up Liam… It’s kind of a game we like to play” the dark haired boy’s voice had picked up a strange tone as he talked about Liam, it wasn’t irritation and it wasn’t affection. It was more like… admiration. Harry smiled back at the dark haired boy, no longer feeling the hostility radiating off his body like it had before, and he smiled back, lifting his hand to clasp around Harry’s shoulder and pushing him into room 204. 

Once seated at the desks in back of the classroom, conversation picked up easily between Liam and Harry while Zayn placed his head delicately on the desk, careful not to disrupt his hair, and fell instantly asleep. 

“So what made you move here?” Liam asked the seemingly innocent question but Harry still felt his body tense and the shudder run up his spine and quickly turned his gaze down from Liam’s eyes to the desk. The doe-eyed boy noticed his discomfort and immediately dropped the subject, which Harry couldn’t be more pleased about. He really didn’t want to talk about his father to near strangers, especially when he felt himself on the verge of tears every time the topic was bought up. At that moment the teacher came striding into the room, followed by a stumbling blond haired boy with bright blue eyes. 

The teacher looked at him disapprovingly as he hurried past and pulled out a chair on the other side of Zayn.   
“Sorry, I’m late lads” the boys thick Irish accent filled each word. He looked back between Liam and a still sleeping Zayn before his eyes came to rest on Harry. He raised a quizzical eyebrow and Harry opened his mouth to talk but Liam beat him to it.

“This is Harry, he’s new” Liam said pointing to him and Harry couldn’t help but think if he was ever going to be introduced without the “he’s new” tagging onto the end of the sentence. The blond smiled so wide, Harry could swear it could have reached his ears or split his face in half. The Irish boy leant forward in an attempt to speak but his voice was cut off by the teachers’, his voice dripping with superiority. 

“Good morning, Students. I trust you all had a very eventful weekend… Zayn?” The aging teacher peered at the boy’s in the back from behind thick glasses. After no response from the boy in question, Liam picked up his book and slapped it over the back of Zayn’s head. 

“Huh?” his head snapped up and he glared at Liam. “What the fuc-” but his accusation was cut short as Liam gave a pointed look towards the teacher then back to Zayn. The whole class had swivelled around in their seats to look at him, awaiting an answer. 

“Oh, yeah, it was great.” Zayn answered mildly and the teacher pulled out the roll, irritation clearly written on his face. It seemed Zayn was not one of the favourites, unlike Liam who seemed to pride himself on being the best he could be. After rolling his eyes at Liam’s unnaturally straight posture, Zayn lowered his head back onto the desk, resting it on his arms.

“Alight” Mr Baxter spoke in a slow drawl and clicked his pen, ready to tick the students off the list. “Miss Grace Allan?” he called without looking up  
“Here” a girl somewhere toward the front called back and he ticked the name before continuing down the roll.

“Miss Jessica Burton?”

“Here” the red head that sat in the row in front of him called, twirling a few strands of her long ginger hair in her fingers. 

“Mr Timothy Collins?” Harry tried hard to memorize the names that went with the faces, though it was a little difficult because he could only see the back of each person’s head. The teacher marked off the names as the students verified their attendance. A few more names later,

“Mr Niall Horan?” the blonde Irish boy smiled and got to his feet before bellowing.

“I am currently here and accounted for, sir.” He raised his hand to his head in a salute before dropping it in a quick jerky movement, the class cracked up in a fit d giggles. Mr Baxter only rolled his eyes 

“Thank you, Niall. Now please take your seat” Niall gave a quick nod before falling back into his seat. Once Zayn’s name came up he didn’t even bother lifting his head from the desk, instead he lazily raised his hand for a quick second before letting it drop back down. When Liam’s name was called he just gave a curt ‘Here, sir’. It was a few moments before

“Mr Zachary Sim- oh sorry, Mr Harry Styles?” the teacher looked up from his clip board for the first time since Niall outburst. He’s beady eyes skipped over the classes face until they zoned in on the only face he didn’t recognize. Harry’s. His face instantly heated up, colouring his face dark pink. 

“Um – yeah?... I mean here” Harry stuttered and the teacher ticked off his name without looking down at his board.

“New are we?” he asked and Harry gave a quick nod, shrinking lowing to his chair as everyone turned around in their seats to look at him, his face growing a couple shades deeper. Liam placed a reassuring hand on Harry’s shoulder and gave a supportive smile. Harry quirked his lips up in, what he hoped, a returning smile even though it didn’t meet his eyes. 

“Well, I trust Liam is taking good care of you?” Mr Baxter inquired. 

“Of course, sir.” Liam’s voice was light but sure and Zayn slowly brought his head up from the desk and looked around the class room that had turned silent. Everyone still staring at the boy sitting to the right of Liam, even the teacher and He gave an awkward cough

“So… are we going to learn anything today? … or just stare at the new kid?” Zayn’s voice was casual but held a defensive tone that seemed to snap everyone out of their trance. The teacher quickly marked off the rest of the names and began with the lesson. Harry couldn’t be more grateful for Zayn in that moment, he could just kiss him. Harry’s eyes widened at the fact he just though about kissing Zayn. He shook his head to rid the thoughts from his mind. What the hell was he thinking? 

 

~*~

Lunch was a blur of new names that came with new faces and Harry had struggled to remember any of them. Niall had given him the affectionate nick-name of Haz, apparently too lazy to add the extra syllable for Harry, not that he minded of course. It caught on quickly and soon everyone was calling him by the name created by the energetic blonde. Harry was quite glad of the nick-name; it made him feel like he was already part of something.

The rest of the day passed just as quickly, a haze of Art, Sociology and Law. Harry found out Zayn was in most of his classes, bar Drama and Math, not that he paid attention anyway; he focused most of his energy on annoying Liam, which seemed to amuse Zayn to no end, though the same couldn’t be said for Liam.

Their art lesson was drawing to a close at the end of Harry’s first day, he was both pleased about going home but unnerved for the exact same reason. He really didn’t want to face his father, not now, not ever. He got caught up in his thoughts as he watched the flamboyant, multi coloured teacher dance across the front of the class, eliciting giggles from her students.

Harry placed his cheek on his palm and rolled his head around so he was looking at Zayn. The other boy was staring intently at his page, with his tongue slightly poking out from between his lips in complete concentration. It was the most focus Harry had seen Zayn use since their not-so-normal meeting earlier that morning. The page was covered in many lead pencil lines that constructed the outlines of a human face. Harry lent closer in an attempt to see who he was drawing but before he could the bell rung signalling the end of the school day. He packed up quickly, shoving his books into his bag and saying a brief goodbye to Zayn before trudging out the class and began making his way back to his father’s house. 

Harry had dragged his feet the whole walk home, taking the time to kick to loose rocks across the path, the bright red of the front door coming up to meet him much too soon. Not even bothering to greet his father, Harry scurried up the stairs and disappeared into his room for the rest of the night. Flicking through homework and trying out some new video games that his father had tried to bribe him with, Harry soon found his eyelids drooping close with exhaustion. He made his way to his bed and flopped down on the soft mattress, tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. 

~*~


	3. Chapter 3

Beep. Beep.

A sharp noise entered Harry’s head. He rolled over in his warm bed, turning his face further into the soft pillow, brushing off the sound and breathing heavily into the fabric, groaning quietly in content. Then it came again. 

Beep. Beep.

His mind swam with dreams, sleep still clinging desperately to the corners of his brain suffocating any coherent thought. But the sound didn’t seem to want to stop.

Beep. Beep.

Harry let out a huff of frustration as the shrill noise tried to bury its way into his clouded mind, attempting to tug him to attention. He rolled over further, trying to escape the repetitive sound but it refused to cease, continuously pulling him further and further out of unconsciousness. 

Beep. Beep.

Making a groan of annoyance, Harry slowly pealed back his eyelids to look for the source of the ungodly beeping. The morning light assaulted his sensitive eyes as he quickly glanced around the room, his gaze falling on a clock that was positioned on his bedside table; it seemed to be the cause of the noise. He reached for it blindly before pulling it up to his face, his eyes slowly focussing on the green flashing numbers. _Shit_. Was the only thing Harry had time to think before he was flying out of bed and rummaging around his room. He was late. He was very late. His sudden panic had launched him into full awareness as he dashed around his room in desperate search of his uniform. 

Once reasonably dressed, he grabbed his bag of his desk chair and hurried down the stairs not bothering to do his hair, only shaking it to the side and out of his eyes. He ran into the kitchen where his father sat with a cup of tea in front of him along with the morning paper, not bothering to look up when Harry entered the room.

Looking at his watch Harry let out a displeased noise. “God, I’m going to be so late.” he mumbled to himself, taking an apple out of the fruit basket on the counter top and shoving it into his bag, most likely bruising it on its way.  
“I could give you a ride, you know. You don’t have to run to school.” Harry’s father said simply, looking at his son over the top of his paper. Harry just shook his head, taking a water bottle out of the fridge and squashing it into his already over-packed bag.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just sign in late.” he mumbled even though his father had already gotten to his feet and was fishing his car keys out of the shallow bowl that sat on the table.  
“Nonsense. I won’t have my boy signing late on his second day of school.” His voice was casual but stern, leaving no room for argument, not that Harry had the energy to argue with his father anyway. It was after a moment’s hesitation and a quick glance at his watch, Harry finally agreed.

Closing the front door behind him, Harry hurried over to the car where his father was already waiting. He jumped into the passenger seat, balancing his bag on his knees as he clicked in his seat belt. The drive to school was faster than expected, the trees flashing by in a blur of green and brown. A tense quietness stretched out between Harry and his father, neither of them willing to be the first to break the silence. 

The car pulled up to the school just as the bell sounded. The curly-haired boy jumped out of the car with a muttered thank you and ran toward the building, the car park now deserted.  
The narrow corridors were just as empty as the grounds outside and Harry could hear his heavy shoes squeaking loudly on the lanoline floor. He quickly pulled out his time table and glanced at the tiny squares. Math. _Where the hell is the math classroom?_ He wondered frantically, his thoughts were cut short though when he collided heavily with an object in front of him.

A small noise left his mouth as the air got knocked out of his lungs. He reached out instinctively to hold onto the thing he had hit, to stop it – and himself – from tumbling over. Harry had anticipated the feel of cool rough concrete or metal but instead his hands met with warm smooth skin. He quickly looked down to see he was holding tightly onto a pair of tanned forearms that led down to slender finger that wrapped themselves around his own arms. Harry was suddenly no longer sure if he was holding them up or if they were stopping him from dropping to the ground. Sure that the person he had run into was about to knock his teeth in for not watching where he was going. 

“Whoa. You alright?” a male’s voice asked, a little husky at the edges and nothing what Harry would have thought the voice sounded like. It was so warm and familiar Harry found his eyes fluttering shut. It sounded like everything Harry wasn’t feeling, happy, safe, welcome… It sounded like home. I was a long moment before the voice came again, this time a little more unsure than it had been earlier. 

“Uh, mate?” Harry’s eyes snapped open, quickly looking up to have his eyes met with a pair of slightly amused clear blue pools and suddenly Harry couldn’t breathe. The boy in front of him smiled kindly and it was then that Harry realised he was still holding tightly to his arms, though the other boy seemed not to notice.

“Oh, sorry” Harry said quickly, his voice a little breather than it should have been and quickly pulled his hands away as the other boy dropped his own. The blue-eyed boys smile widened, showing a set of perfect teeth. It took a while for harry to realize he was staring into the endless blue depth and quickly glanced down to the floor where he saw the other boys’ bag laying haphazardly. 

“I-uh, your bag.” Harry pointed out before dropping to the floor to pick it up, forcing his eyes to stay on the bag and not glance up at the person standing above him, which happened to be quite a hard feat in itself. Once the books here safely back in their respected pockets and zipped up tightly, Harry got back to his feet pulling the bag with him. The other boy watched him carefully, his smile still widely evident on his face. Harry held out the bag, eyes still examining the ground. 

“You’re Harry, aren’t you?” The boy in question and Harry pulled his eyes off the floor to roam of the beautiful boys’ face of the boy in front of him. As weird as it sounded in Harry’s head, there was no other way to describe him, he was simply beautiful. The confusion must have showed on his features because he quickly continued. “Because there’s a new kid here and I never seen you around before, so I just assumed-”

“Yeah, I’m Harry” the confidence in his voice surprised even him. The other boy’s smiled widened, if that was possible, and he swung his bag around bracing it on his back.  
“Well, I’m Louis and not to worry, I’m not a stalker or anything, my friend Liam told me about you.” The blue-eyed boy joked. Ignoring the rest of what he had said only one thing stood out.  
 _“Louis.”_ Harry repeated, a smile creeping onto his face, liking how the name felt on his tongue. _No. You do don’t like this boy’s name nor do you like the way he is looking at you like you’re the most precious thing in the world._ He thought viciously to himself.

“Yeah, Louis.” Louis chucked, and it was the most beautiful sound Harry had ever heard and he found himself staring at his bright blue eyes again, Louis seemed unconcerned but the other boys sudden fixation and continued “Why were you in such a rush anyway?” 

“Shit” was all Harry could say as he quickly spun around, slapping the palm of his hand against his forehead. Louis walked around the curly-haired boy so he was standing front of him again, though his gaze seemed to pass straight through him. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, concern and confusion etched into his tone. Harry glance quickly at the piece of paper that he had forgot he was holding.

“I have maths, and I have no idea where my class is.” Harry explained helplessly. Louis manoeuvred himself around so he was standing beside Harry and looking at the sheet of paper over Harry's shoulder. “Room 126.” Harry continued, turning his head so he was looking back into Louis face, “I didn’t even know this school had a room 126!” he exclaimed loudly then quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard his sudden outburst. Louis gave a short laugh and placed his arm around Harry's shoulders, Harry surprised himself by leaning into the touch. After all, he had only just met this boy yet for some reason that Harry couldn’t fathom, he felt completely comfortable with him. He felt like himself.

“Come on, I’ll take you. It’s on my way, anyway.” Louis said tugging Harry a little as he began down the corridor.

No less than two minutes later did they arrive outside a door with the numbers ‘126’ painted in bold black font just above the door frame. Louis retracted his arm from where it had been resting on Harry, and the curly-haired boy found the immediately missed the warm heat pressed up against his side. The other boy shot a grin at Harry, ruffling his hair before turning on his heal and walking back the way they had just come.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked in a staged whisper. Louis turned but continued walking backwards down the narrow halls and held up his arms to the sides

“To class.” he whispered back, smirking at the confused look that danced across Harry's features and dropped his arms from where they were extended from his body

“But you said my class was on the way to yours.” Harry spoke a little louder to insure the other boy had heard his as kept walking backwards, still facing Harry. The other boy gave a nonchalant shrug

“I lied.” He said simply before turning back around and walking normally. Guilt weaved its way into Harry's gut as he realised he would have made Louis be late for his class, just so he could show Harry to his own. Never the less, Harry couldn’t help but admire the way Louis hips swayed when he walked and how his butt looked plump and round in the tight material of his trousers. Wait, what? Harry mentally scolded himself; he had no idea why he was acting and thinking strangely lately. That was his last free thought before opening the door to the maths room and being assaulted with a world of numbers.

~*~

“Louis showed you to your class? As in _Louis Tomlinson?”_ Liam inquired after Harry had told the boys about his accidental run in with Louis. The four of them we seated around a table, Liam, Niall and Zayn all on one side and Harry on the other. 

“Yeah” he replied casually, taking a bite out of the apple that he had shoved in his bag that morning and had somehow managed not to get squashed by heavy books. “He said that his room was a couple after mine and that he could show me on his way there” Harry purposefully left out the fact that Louis had blatantly lied to his face about the whereabouts of his class room. Liam looked almost stunned at what Harry had said, none the less. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging agape. It was a few moments before Harry realized Liam was staring at him and instantly brought his hand up to his mouth. “What? Do I have something on my face?” he asked a little defensively, looking between the boys that sat across from him and Niall suddenly burst out laughing.

“Oh! This is too good!” Niall said once he had calmed down enough to choke out the words. “You see,” he continued, still clearly amused “Liam has a crush on Lou – Ow!” he yelped rubbing his upper arm where Liam had just hit him. No one seemed to notice Zayn slouching lower in his chair on the other side of Liam, his shouldered hunched forward as he drew his phone out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it purposelessly.

Harry was too busy to notice the boy’s sudden change in mood as he felt a pang of jealousy shoot though his stomach at Niall words, though he had no idea why. He had only met Louis once so it wasn’t fair for Harry to immediately claim the boy as his own, the only thing he really knew about the stunning blue-eyes boy was his name, and the fact he had an amazing arse. Yet, Harry’s hand slowly curled around into fist under the table and the other one gripped his apple more tightly, he had also began unconsciously grinding his teeth together, which is something he hadn’t don’t since he was a small child. 

“I don’t have a crush on him.” Liam said surely, and Harry loosened his grip on the apple slightly, though Niall just rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, you just swoon whenever you see him and willingly oblige to all of his wishes, not to mention that you stalk him.” Niall said and discreetly winked a Harry, but turning his head slightly to do so, so that Liam couldn’t see and it was then that Harry realized Niall was just saying those things to get a reaction out of Liam, that he didn’t actually like Louis. Relief washed over Harry and he found himself smirking when Liam began to talk again

“I don’t have a crush on Louis and I don’t stalk him either! He’s the school’s football captain, I have to do what he says or I’ll get kicked off the team. Also, I don’t swoon, I simply admire his skills when he’s on the field and take pictures for the school newspaper.” Liam reasoned and Niall just scoffed

“Sure. For the newspaper.” he murmured under his breath, just loud enough for the rest of the boys to hear and Zayn was instantly bought back out of his trance that involved a fixation with his phone

“Just leave him alone, would you Niall?” Zayn said venomously, glaring daggers at the Irish boy. Liam was quick to intervene

“It’s okay Zayn, really.” Liam insisted but Zayn shook his head. 

“No, it’s not. You don’t have to be a prick about everything.” Zayn directed his insult at Niall before rising to his feet, the legs of the chair scraping noisily along the floor of the cafeteria. The olive-skinned boy wrenched his bag off the ground and stalked way with meaningful steps, as if each pace was more difficult than the last. Niall sat there with his mouth hanging open in complete surprise whereas Liam’s face was just painted with concern, still watching after the boy who had abruptly left. 

Giving a quick explanation of going to see what was wrong; Liam was up out of his chair and following the other boy’s previous footsteps out the door. Then there was two. Niall and Harry looked awkwardly between each other, not quite sure of what to say, so they didn’t say anything, finishing their lunched in silence. It was when Niall and Harry were making their way to the English class room after the bell had sounded that Niall decided to speak

“He’s not usually like that, you know? It’s just been a resent thing really, it started a few weeks before you got here, I still haven’t gotten used to it but Liam seems to take it all in his stride” Harry glanced up to see Niall looking a few feet ahead and followed his gaze to where Zayn and Liam were sitting next to each other with their backs against the wall, Liam’s hand braced reassuringly on Zayn’s knee, listening intently to whatever the black-haired boy had to say.

Harry looked back to Niall and gave him a sad smile before leading him into the classroom that awaited them. 

~*~

That night, after dinner and a shower, Harry found himself lying on his bed and staring at the white wash ceiling. He began to think over his day; starting with the rushed morning. He remembered rapid dressing and the more than awkward drive to school. This memory led to the next, one of him rushing through the empty corridors and unexpectedly crashing into the warm being that was Louis. Harry felt a slight smile spread across his face as he remembered the boy, all soft golden skin, mischievous blue eyes and radiating smile. 

Harry began to focus on Louis’ face, calling up every detail he could remember his eyes when he smiled, the way the corner of his mouth slightly twitched in confusion, his loud husky laugh, even features Harry didn’t even know he picked up on like the way is arm muscles tensed when he had slung his bag onto his back or the way his feet skited softly along the floor as he walked. In the end Harry had created a perfect replica of Louis Tomlinson. 

Closing his eyes to ensure the image remained in this thoughts, Harry began to feel an all too familiar tightening in this boxers. Thinking nothing of it and blaming his teenage hormones, he continued to think about the perfect boy that was painted on the insides of his eyelids. Imagining what it would be like to be friends with the carefree boy, what it would be like to be close to him, to run his fingers through the silky caramel strands of hair or kiss those soft inviting lips. Harry’s eyes flung open at the realisation that he had unconsciously begun to stroke himself, wrenching his hand out from where it has slid past the waist band of his pants he mentally kicked himself. What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t even like boys… do you? No, you definitely don’t. With that thought Harry rolled over onto his side a refused to do anything about the situation in his pants.


	4. Chapter 4

Mornings in the Tomlinson household could be called nothing short of chaos and after Louis parents had split up about a year ago it had only gotten worse. With his dad no longer there to help out with his four younger sisters and his mum always tired from working long night shifts at the hospital, it was Louis duty to make sure the girls were dressed and ready for school by the time the bus came to pick them up. 

The Daisy and Phoebe were the most work, he would brush the twin’s hair and tie it up into a ponytail that sat on the tops of their heads, help them get dress and make sure they put their shoes on the right feet and tie up their laces. It was their first yeah of kindergarten so he had to make sure everything was in order and they wouldn’t come home crying or get a call from the school telling him they forgot their lunch.

Lottie would help as much as she could, she would help Louis pack their lunches the night before, writing their names on them so they knew what belonged to who, so that they were ready for them to get in the morning and take them out, handing it to the labelled child. Though there was only so much the ten year old could do.

Felicite would walk around in a tired haze for most of the morning, pulling on her school clothes with much effort and sometimes falling asleep while eating breakfast. Louis didn’t know why the eight year old was this tired in the mornings, seeing as she came home as a bouncing ball of energy. 

He didn’t mind it though, taking care of his sister, he loved them more than anything. Yet, it could get tiering to always be happy and strong for them and unconditionally agreeing to play with them. Louis did need some time by himself though, which is why he didn’t catch the bus with them, much to Daisy’s dismay, he preferred to drive to school, giving him more time to get ready and enjoy the short time of quiet that the house barely ever produced.

Every morning, Louis would stand in the warm shower, with his head down and staring at his feet until the heat on his back would become too much to handle. Taking his time to dry himself, would dress slowly, taking the time to do his hair in its usual ‘sex hair’ fashion and make sure everything was in place before setting off into the kitchen where his lunch was waiting for him on the bench with a note scribbled on it in Lottie messy scrawl, _We appreciate everything you do for us Louis, We love you._ Louis smiled at the sentiment of the note and the amount of horrible spelling mistakes in the simple sentence and placed it carefully in his bag.

Louis made his way to his Mum’s room, which was at the far end of the upstairs landing, farthest away from the noise, and quietly knocked on the door before entering the dark room and making his way over to the lump in the duvet, that was undoubtedly his mother, judging by the quiet snores that came from the centre of the bed in which she lay. He snuck over and placed a quick kiss on her forehead and whispering his goodbyes before quietly retreating back out the room. He grabbed his keys of the bench and jumped into his car, bringing it to life with the turn of the key.

~*~

The drive to school was short, fifteen minutes at most. Once parked on one of the spots closest to the buildings and only have to walk a short distance, which was one of the perks of arriving early, he made a bee line through the gates and to his first class, despite being more than half an hour early. 

Louis was the first students to arrive at the drama room, like most other Wednesday mornings. He entered the classroom through the heavy double doors and was immediately greeted with the familiar musky smell of the large space; it wasn’t a horrible smell just a faint aroma that always seemed to occupy the room. If comforted Louis to an extent as it was one of the only consistent things in his life. 

Dropping his bag to the floor at the edge of the room and toeing off his shoes, he made his way over to where his teacher was leaning against the wall, looking over her lesson plan for the day and fiddling idly with the hem of her loose fitting shirt. Her face lit up as she heard Louis feet shuffling over the course, but somehow at the same time soft, material of the newly carpeted floor.   
“Good morning, Louis” she greeted him enthusiastically, placing her plan on the desk that sat beside her. 

“’Morning, Sarah” Louis greeted and his teacher raised her eyebrow, Louis laughed before correcting himself “Sorry.” He apologized “good morning, Miss Winters” she smiled and gave him a quick pat on the back. 

“That’s right. And don’t you forget it” she winked and laughed as he poked out his tongue in a very childish yet necessary manner.

Sarah Winters had only started teaching senior drama at the start of the year, fresh out of university and a previous student, the school hadn’t thought twice about hiring her. Sarah was also Louis old next door neighbour who, more often than not, was roped into babysitting him when he was younger. If his Mum had to work late at the hospital, which was quite a common occurrence, she would always come around with a large smile on her face a bag of sweets that they would snack on during the night. 

Their friendship grew quickly despite the large age difference, even after she moved away to go to Uni they still stayed in touch. Louis trusted her with anything and everything and she always listened when he had something to say, even if it was as pointless as why he preferred red apples over green ones. 

Sarah would buy him ice-cream, laugh when he told a joke and hold him when he cried. She was everything and older sibling should be which is why Louis tried to treat his sisters like she treated him. 

Louis had always come to her for advice or asked her opinion before making a decision on anything, she was also the first person that Louis had told that he was gay. Much to Louis delight, she didn’t judge him or ask him questions; instead she pulled him into a tight hug and congratulated him on his new found discovery. And even though she was now his teacher, she was still his friend and, for all intents and purposes, his sister.

“So what brings you to my humble abode?” she asked spinning on her toes with her arms spread wide gesturing to the classroom.

“My feet” Louis deadpanned and she gave a delighted chuckle, her light brown ponytail swishing as her spinning came to a stop. They both took their seats on the floor, sitting across from each other, their knees only just touching. They soon fell into a comfortable silence, both lost in completely irrelevant thought. Louis hadn’t even realised Sarah had started talking again until she waved a dainty hand in front of Louis’ face. 

“Huh?” He said looking up to meet her inquiring eyes.

“I said ‘how’s the love life these days?’” she repeated, still eyeing him curiously as he turned a light shade of pink. After his flush continued to deepen and the silence stretched out between them, Sarah decided not to make this as awkward as possible in the only way she knew how. Sarcasm.

“Don’t say you have a boyfriend and didn’t tell me?” She clutched her hands to her heart in mock shock. This provoked a small chuckle out of Louis and he shook his head. 

“No, no boyfriend.” He sounded a bit solemn and in an attempt to brighten his mood she continued with her unnecessarily loud enquiries.

“Well, are you courting any of the charming lads that attends this fine institution or otherwise?” she asked in and over pompous accent, waving her hand around carelessly and pointing her nose up to the ceiling. 

Louis didn’t immediately reply and she dropped her hand from where it rested in the air and looked back to Louis where a deep pink was colouring his neck and cheeks.   
“Oh my god! There is!” she exclaimed excitedly, bobbing up and down where she sat and Louis lightly slapped her arm. Sarah didn’t give up though, only smiling wider and continuing to talking in an excited squeal. 

“I knew it! As soon as you came in here you looked different. Not, like physically but you had a different aura about you, you know? Oh my god, this is so exciting! When do I get to meet him? Better yet, what’s his name?” she rambled on until Louis cut her short with his reply. 

“He doesn’t like me, so it doesn’t matter. And I don’t even know if I like him… well I do like him, but maybe not like that. Well, yeah like that…but I don’t know! I mean, we only met yesterday.”   
“Whoa, whoa, whoa” she said holding up her hands to stop Louis from continuing. “You only met him yesterday and you think you like him… already?” Louis blushed harder and nodded realizing how stupid he must of sounded, not that Sarah would ever tell him that. “Well, how much do you know about him?” she inquired innocently. 

“Uh – he’s, like new. So not much, but he hangs out with Liam, you know Liam? He plays on the same football team as me, smart, large brown eyes, utter suck up? Yeah, well he hangs out this him and I’ve been discreetly asking about him” Sarah laughed, much to Louis confusion. 

“Louis, your ‘discreet’ is about as subtle as a baboon on crack” she laughed again, this time at her own joke and Louis rolled his eyes

“Sarah, I’m serious.” 

“Okay, okay. What’s this mystery man’s name? Or should I just call him Mystery Man? Come to think of it, that actually sounds pretty cool.” She waved her hand in front of her face and put on a deep voice, saying “Mystery Man” it was times like these that Louis wondered who was the adult and who was the teenager.

“His name’s Harry Styles” He said before Sarah could get too carried away. “He’s in the same year as me and he just started school on Monday” Sarah nodded to herself before her curiosity got the better of her.

“What’s he look like?” she asked getting to her feet and striking an over exaggerated supermodel pose “Is he gorgeous?” she asked dramatically and Louis chucked. She quickly changed her position so her hands were in fists on her hips and her chest was pushed out “Is he manly?” she asked again in the same deep tone and Louis erupted in a fit of giggles. “Is he sweet?” bringing her hands up to her face and imitating swooning.

“All of the above” Louis said between laughter. 

“Do you want to bang him up against the nearest wall?” she asked darkly and Louis choked on his tongue. 

“Sarah!” he exclaimed at the girl’s sudden enquiry, she was about to respond but the same moment the bell rang and the first few students made their way into the classroom, Louis and Sarah separated to a respectable distance, they had to keep their friendship at a professional level around the other students so they didn’t think that she had favourites, which she obviously did, Louis being at the top of her list. 

Louis’ classmates entered the room, the space slowly filling up. Louis caught the sight of one of his friends, Stan, and turned to give Sarah a dark look and a quick ‘talk later’, he began to search out his friends. 

He found Stan near the far back wall of the class room talking to their other friend, Hannah. He greeted them with a wave and they both smiled in return before launching back into conversation. Sarah made her way to the front of the classroom and clapped her hands twice, the murmuring of the rowdy teenagers instantly disintegrating. 

“Alright, you know the drill. Sit in a circle.” She said and the class began shuffling around to sit in something that resembled the shape of an oval, she also sat down with the kids, crossing her legs like the rest of her students. 

She was about to begin the lesson when the large door re-opened and a figure presented themselves. They walked a couple paces into the room and Louis immediately knew it to be the curly-haired boy that had run into him yesterday and he felt a smile bloom on his face. 

“Can I help you?” Sarah asked looking over at Harry and he shuffled forward slightly.

“I’m Harry and I’m new” he explained shyly and Louis felt a sense of endearment wash over him as Harry’s cheeks turned a light pink. Sarah nodded giving a quick almost unnoticeable glace at Louis before her eyes returned to the figure at the doorway. 

“Okay, I’m Miss Winters. You can place your bag other there with the others and your shoes as well then come join us in the circle” Harry following where her finger was pointing to a pile of bags and shoes. Once Harry had done as she asked she continued with the lesson. 

“Okay, so today I am going to give you guys you newest assessment.” She explained “It will be a performance piece and you will have five weeks to compose and practice it, so I expect to see some real energy and enthusiasm put into it. I will give each group a topic and the rest is up to you. You get to write the script and choose what type of performance you want it to be, it can be comical, it can be dramatic, anything. It’s up to you, do we understand each other?” she asked looking around the circle and everyone nodded eagerly.

“Okay” she said finally “everyone, get into groups of twos and threes” she waved her hand and rose to her feet along with the other students. The class suddenly rushed about in desperate search of their friendship groups so they wouldn’t get placed with someone that couldn’t act or they just didn’t like. Louis found Stan and Hannah instantly and they stood in a tight formation, signalling they were ready to receive their topic. 

With the crowd slowly dissipating Louis saw the familiar curly-haired boy at the far end of the room, shuffling his feet and playing with his hands, clearly no one had wanted to be with the new kid. With a sigh Louis looked back at Stan and Hannah and with no explanation at all he walked off towards Harry. 

He came to stand beside the nervous curly-haired boy, who made no sign that he had noticed Louis presence. Louis poked him in the ribs with his elbow and Harry’s head immediately lifted to meet Louis’.

“Hey, do you mind if I be your partner?” Louis asked casually and Harry blushed, which could have been the most adorable thing Louis had ever seen. Harry’s eyes roamed over his face before slipping to the side to look over Louis’ shoulder. Louis followed his gaze to see Stan and Hannah looking at him expectantly but he just brushed it off. “So what do you say?” 

“What about your friends?” Harry asked instead of answering and Louis shrugged. He honestly didn’t care; Stan and Hannah were too busy with each other to bother with his unexpected change in allegiance and probably preferred it that they were alone anyway. Though, Louis knew that the main reason was that he just wanted to be close to Harry. 

“They didn’t want me anymore. I’m too awesome for them” Louis explained and smiled as he saw a smirk light Harry’s perfect face and Louis couldn’t help but think that it definitely suited him more than the worried nervousness that he was wearing just before.

“So, do you want me?” Louis asked stretching his hands out as if he was offering himself up, which he kind of was and Harry looked instantly guilty, though Louis had no idea why. He nodded nonetheless and Louis linked his arm through his “great.”

Everyone was in the respective groups and Sarah had begun weaving though the small clusters of people with a sheet in her hand. “Alright guys!” she yelled to get everyone’s attention. “We are going to be basing these performances on taboo subjects. So, things that are not usually talked about or frowned upon in today’s society. Also, if the topic I give you is too close to home or if you feel uncomfortable doing it, just let me know and I’ll give you a new one. Sound good?” after a few mumbles of agreement she went to the closest set of students, a group of three boys. “Sam, Jake and Archie you will be doing drug addiction” she waited for them to nod before writing it down on the paper that she held. Sarah then came to stand in front of Stan and Hannah “You two, domestic violence?” Stan and Hannah looked at each other before nodding and Sarah wrote it down. Next in line was three girls who could easily be placed into the ‘American Cheerleader’ stereotype, all with blonde hair and pushed out chests. “Lacey, Anna and Claire, you will do alcohol abuse, that alright?” All the girls giggled and nodded excitedly, Louis himself couldn’t see what was so funny but shrugged it off. After writing down the previous group, Sarah walked around the where Louis and Harry stood, arms still linked “Alright Lou and… sorry I’ve forgotten your name” she said to Harry apologetically. 

“It’s Harry, Harry Styles” He answered slowly and Sarah smirked, her gaze flicking over to Louis and her smile deepened 

“Excellent” she said still looking daringly at Louis and he glared daggers right back at her. “Okay” she said after a moment “you guys can do…” she trailed off, tapping her pencil on her chin in thought. Her eyes drifted down to their still linked arms then back up, her gaze flicking between the two boy’s faces. A new smirk lighting her lips “You guys can do… Homosexuality.”   
Louis made a choking sound as he breathed in his saliva and Harry turned the deepest shade of red. They simultaneously dropped each other’s arms and Louis glared at Sarah, telepathically sending her death threats, but she ignored him, turning towards Harry instead

“Sound good?” she asked, knowing Harry would be too shy or nervous to decline her wishes. The curly-haired boy’s bright green eyes were wide as he glanced desperately between Louis and his new teacher. 

“O-okay?” he said wearily, still glancing back at Louis to make sure he hadn’t said something he wasn’t meant to. Before Louis could respond Sarah’s voice sounded

“Fantastic!” she exclaimed secretly winking at Louis. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as she wrote it down and shuffled to the next pair. He looked back at Harry and caught sight of his bright green eyes, uncertainty danced around his iris’ only to turn to relief when Louis gave him an understanding smile. 

“So, I suppose we better get started?” Harry asked carefully as if he expected Louis turn around and start yelling at him. Louis smile softened 

“Yeah” he agreed.

This is going to be interesting. Louis thought while leading Harry over to a corner of the room where they could discuss their assessment.


	5. Chapter 5

Originally, Harry had tip-toed around Louis after receiving their topic, which was more than frustrating for the slightly older boy. It had taken many quiet encouragements and reassuring smiles to get the curly haired boy to even add input into the script and stage directions. A week later, conversation between the two flowed freely; both boys had become comfortable within each other’s presence which was a large improvement from the nervous, fiddling boy that Louis was landed with 8 days ago. 

The awkwardness of the subject slowly dissipating as the days drew on. Both boys agreed to go about the task in a completely professional way, keeping emotions – good or bad – out of the mix and just focus on getting the best grade they could. 

Harry had become quite dependant on the other boy’s quick witted and carefree ways, often seeking out the blue-eyed boy for no apparent reason, just wanting to be in his comforting company. Not that Louis was complaining, he enjoyed the large grin the lit Harrys face if they ever spotted each other from across a room.

In fact, it was Louis who had initiated that they hang out at his house after school. His mum would be at work and he wouldn’t have to pick the girl us from dance practice until at least six, which gave the boys plenty of time to go over their script and maybe get a little practice in. 

It had nothing to do with the fact he craved the Harry’s attention, constantly doing things that would gain him curious or amused looks from those bright green eyes. Nor did it have to do with the rush of butterflies that swarmed his stomach whenever he saw the cheeky, curly-haired boy – Honestly, it didn’t. 

But even Louis couldn’t deny the immense joy that swept over him when Harry had agreed without hesitation, arranging to meet at Louis car after their last class finished.

~*~

Harry fiddled nervously with his fingers as he stared absently at the clock that was positioned on the wall at the front of the classroom. He begun to tap his foot on the linoleum floors, begging the last 15 minutes he had left in English to somehow disappear and he would be free from the constricting, slightly yellow walls of the old classroom. If you asked him, he would swear his anxiety had nothing to do with the fact that he would be spending the afternoon with Louis. At his house. Alone. Though, even he knew he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t the tinniest bit excited to be in Louis’ company for a whole, undisrupted 3 hours. 

“Harry! You need to stop; you’re shaking the whole desk.” Liam whispered viciously, snapping him back into reality. Harry looked down to where Liam had placed his hand firmly on Harry’s knee, stopping the quick movements caused from him bouncing his legs on the balls of his feet. 

The curly-haired boy looked up casually, mumbling his apology and Liam withdrew his hand. Harry glanced back at the clock that hovered above Mr Baxter’s head. 10 minutes left. He let out a displeased groan and dropped his head down to the desk come on he pleaded silently with the clock. 

“Mr Styles?” Harry raised his head at the teacher’s voice; he hadn’t even realized he’d been talking. Mr Baxter looked at him expectantly and Harry quickly looked around the class to see almost everyone staring at him.

“Sorry, what was the question?” he asked as innocently as he could and the teacher gave a huff of disapproval.

“The question was” he said warningly, giving a very pointed look “Could you please inform the class when the use of a co-ordinating conjunction is present?” There was silence. The teacher seemed to take pleasure in the confused look that danced across Harry’s features.

“A what?” he asked a little bewildered; he’s never heard of the things before. 

“A co-ordinating conjunction.” He repeated, which was once again followed by silence. Harry wanted to go up and knock the smug look of the old teacher’s face when Zayn piped up.

“A co-ordinating conjunction are things like, ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ and you use to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses.” Zayn stated casually, apparently unaware of the teacher’s wide eyes and slack jaw. 

It was the most intelligent things that had left his mouth in the small time that Harry had known the olive skinned boy and judging by the teacher’s reaction, the same thing stood for him. Harry lent forward over the desk, so he could see past Liam, and shot Zayn an amazed and grateful smile, in which he returned. 

“Uh- I… yes, that is correct. Thank you, Zayn” Mr Baxter spluttered before clearing his voice, wanting to get on with the lesson before Zayn came out with more unexpected surprises. Liam placed his arm around Zayn and whispered something of congratulations in his ear, as well as Liam hid it, he couldn’t deny that he loathed the teacher that was currently pacing the front of the room.

The bell finally rung and the class excitedly packed up their books and pens, happy to be finished with the horribly boring class. Harry followed the other boys out of the class, ignoring Mr Baxter’s glare as they made their way out the classroom and into the halls. But before Harry could make a run for it, Niall’s hand was tugging at his elbow. Liam and Zayn had stopped in their tracks as well, standing slightly behind the blond lad. 

“Haz, we were wondering what you were doing after school tomorrow, cause my parents are going to be out of town for the weekend, so I thought I’d ask a couple of friends over, y’know?” Harry looked at him sceptically, but judging from Liam and Zayn’s wide grins Niall had asked them as well. 

“When you say ‘a couple of friends’ does that mean a couple of friends or half of the student body?” Harry inquired the Irish lad, raising an eyebrow. Laughter bubbled from the three boys, Liam was the first to recover.

“Nah, he means me us” he pointed to himself and the other boys before continuing, “And you, if you want?” Liam looked genuinely hopeful and Harry couldn’t deny that chance to leave the house and be away from his father. It was hardly a moment before he replied,

“Sure… Can Louis come?” he added as an afterthought. Niall looked a little taken aback by the request but agreed nonetheless. 

“I guess? But I don’t have his number to text him or anything–“ Niall explained.

“I’m seeing him later, so I could ask him then, yeah?” Harry only saw Niall nod once before he was taking off down the corridor and towards the front of the school to meet Louis.

~*~

The car ride to Louis was fast and relatively silent. Harry got caught – more than once – staring at the blue eyed boy, admiring the way he frowned slightly as he concentrated on the road or bobbed his head to the music that was filtering through the car speakers. 

Louis would look over to sneak a quick glance at the boy that so often occupied his thoughts, only to be met with Harry’s own emerald gaze. Harry would look away quickly, pink tinting his cheeks, and Louis would smile before focusing back on the road ahead of them

This continued for the next few minutes, Harry would stare, Louis would catch him, Harry would get embarrassed, Louis would smile and turn back to the windscreen until they reached Louis family home. 

Pulling up in the drive, Louis cut the engine and popped the boot of the car to retrieve their school bags. While slipping his arms through the straps of his back pack, Harry took the time to memorize the image of Louis house.

Much Like the rest of the houses on the street, it was a two story orange bricked home with a black tiled roof. Hedges lined the fence and along the front of the window and numerous tricycles littered the front lawn. Harry smiled to himself unaware of Louis slowly pulling him towards the front door. Louis took out his keys, quickly unlocked the door and pushed into the house dragging Harry in with him. 

“Oh, wow.” Harry said under his breath as he looked around. Louis hand moved from where it was rested on Harry’s elbow down to cup around the other boy’s hand. Harry’s fingers burned from the contact and he fought down the blush threatening to rise to his cheeks, choosing to focus on the walls around them rather that the older boy tugging him further into the house.

“So, how about the grand tour?” Louis asked cheekily not expecting an answer, so Harry didn’t give one, he instead let himself be guided into a room off to their left.

“This is the lounge room.” Louis said, quickly spinning Harry around, giving him a small glimpse of the space before moving to the next. They walked into a spacious kitchen, everything was white except for the black counter tops. Louis let go of Harry’s hand and moved towards the fridge. Harry felt cold from the lack of the other boy’s hand but brushed the feeling off, blaming it as the cold temperature of the house. 

“Obviously, this is the kitchen.” Louis announced form behind the fridge door, the only thing left visible was a tuff of hair. Louis re-emerged from behind the fridge holding two small bottles of juice and handed one to Harry. The boy took it gratefully and watched as Louis walked further into the kitchen, pulling a packet of crisps out of the pantry.

“No one will miss these.” He said knowingly, winking at Harry. Harry had thought the hand grab had been a one off thing; he turned out to be wrong when Louis re-lined their hands and pulled him towards the stairs.

Once on the landing Louis pointed out numerous doors “That’s Lottie’s room, as you can tell” Bright pink sparkly letters that spelled out the girl’s name were glued to the wood of the door, indeed informing Harry who resided there. Louis then pointed to the closed door on the other side of the hallway 

“That’s Fizz.” The whole door was painted in a lilac purple with light yellow love hearts drawn over it. “She got to paint her door for her 7th birthday. She has a thing for purple.” Louis explained and Harry nodded. The next room Louis pointed to was on the same side as Lottie’s but instead of the door being closed shut like the rest of them, this door was wide open revealing the land of rainbows and castles beyond. 

“The twins, Daisy and Phoebe” Louis announced, fondness lifting his tone. Harry took in the room; two small, neatly made beds were pushed up against walls on opposite sides of the room, a large flower mat sat in the middle of the room which was covered with several toys and cushions. Unicorns and fairies decorated the walls along with the duvet of each bed. Harry turned back to Louis who was leaning against the door jamb watching him carefully. Harry felt his face heat up under the realisation that he was the focus of the blue orbs, something Louis didn’t even know he was doing

“What?” Harry asked embarrassedly. The question seemed to snap Louis out of his thought and he looked away quickly and dropped Harry’s hand which he had forgotten he’s been holding.

“Sorry, uh zoned out for a little bit there.” When Harry didn’t reply Louis used his thumb to point back over his shoulder towards the hallway. “I’ll um, show you where my room is, yeah?” Louis said, mentally kicking himself for being caught so openly staring at the beautiful boy in front of him. Harry nodded and Louis led them back out of the girls room and towards a door on the opposite side of them.

“And this is me.” Louis announced opening the plain white door that hid the room behind it. Louis held the door open and waited for Harry to enter. The curly-haired boy moved into the space and took a quick look around. The walls were white except the one on the right was painted a deep blood red and had a white bookshelf placed up against it – filled with anything other than books – a small flat screen TV hung on the wall, just to the left of the shelf. 

Two bean bags were placed in front of the television, one dark blue and the other black. The double bed that was pushed up against the opposite wall was large and unmade. Various objects littered the floor, things like school books, game controllers, scraps of paper, shoes. The desk that was lined up with the window was also overflowing with meaningless objects.

This is defiantly a boys room Harry thought to himself but as he walked further into the room he picked up on things he hadn’t noticed before like the family portrait the was balanced on one of the shelves of the bookcase or the number of little pink shoes that looked like they belonged to the twins, or the raged old stuffed bear that sat in the middle of Louis bed. It was all of those little quirky things that tugged at Harry’s stomach, forcing a smile to light his features.

“Sorry, it’s such a mess. The cleaner comes on Monday” Louis smirked even though he was feeling self-conscious as he closed the door behind himself and watched the other boy look around his room. Harry turned to face him once more, smiling happily.

“Don’t be sorry, it’s nice.” He said while ridding himself of his schoolbag and placing it on the floor near the foot of Louis’ bed. Louis did the same then flopped down on the achingly comfortable mattress with a soft _oof._

“You know, you don’t have to stand there looking all awkward, you can sit down.” Louis told Harry, who was still scoping out the room. He didn’t move though, which led Louis to pull him down onto the bed, chuckling when he almost fell off. 

“God, someone would’ve thought you’ve never been to a friend’s house before” Louis said once the curly-haired boy was seated firmly in the middle of the mattress, crossing his sock clad feet. Harry shrugged and smirked down at Louis who was lying beside him with his hands behind his head and ankles crossed. Harry’s eyes suddenly widened as he remembered Niall sleepover invitation. 

“That reminds me, you know Niall Horan? Well, He’s having a thing this weekend. Did you want to go?” Harry asked looking hopeful. Louis pretended to think for a moment.

“Who else is going to this _‘thing’?”_ he inquired the other boy, moving up so he was resting on one of his elbows facing Harry. 

“Uh… Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and um… me?” Louis considered it for a moment, even though he knew his answer was going to be yes from the moment Harry asked. 

~*~

They’d been working on script reading for almost an hour and a half before Louis demanded he had a break. Saying his eyes would bleed if he had to read another line. Amused by Louis antics Harry had agreed, his own brain starting to swim with countless thoughts. They ended up sitting in the beanbags – Harry in the blue one and Louis in the black – and playing a mean game of Fifa.   
Harry was currently winning, much to Louis dismay and was quietly thankful when his bedroom door burst open to reveal a squealing four year old. Dressed in a light pink tutu, the girl barrelled herself towards Louis catching him in a fierce hug; the young girl was quickly followed by another and another. All in what Harry guess were ballet outfits. Louis was now invisible under a pile of giggling girls. Harry watched with amused eyes as Louis tried to tickle his way out, his efforts were unsuccessful, however. A woman standing in the door way gave an amused chuckle at the sight in front of her.

“Alright girls, that enough. Let Louis get back to his game” there was an array of disapproving sounds from the pile of bodies but the girls pulled themselves off their older brother nonetheless. 

“Harry, this is my mum, Jay. Mum, this is my friend Harry.” Louis introduced. The woman walked further into the room and placing one hand on one of the twins’ heads and reached the other out towards Harry. Which he accepted warmly. 

“I would offer you a hug but Louis gets a little flustered when I hug his friends” Jay explained and Louis threw his head back into the beanbag groaning.

“Mum, you’re doing it again” He whined which made Harry and Jay chuckle. 

“Right. Sorry, sorry.” His mum said waving a careless hand towards the two boys. “So, I don’t believe you’ve met the girls?” Jay asked. And Harry shook his head glancing around at the three girls who had become suddenly shy. 

“This here is Phoebe and Daisy. Over there in the purple is Felicite and Charlotte has locked herself in her room” Harry greeted each of the girls with a pleasant smile and a small wave of his hand. 

“And will you be staying for dinner, Harry?” Jay asked as the girls chased each other out of the room. It was then that Harry realised he had no Idea what the time was and that it was most likely past six – the time he had told his father he would be back. Harry quickly rose from the beanbag,

“No, sorry. I should actually be getting home. I told my dad I’d be home by six” he explained while pulling on his shoe. Jay looked at her watch then back at the boy currently hopping on one leg.

“It’s half passed six now. Lou do you think you could drive Harry home?” Harry’s cheeks heated at Jay’s words as he couldn’t help but think of them many sexual innuendos behind the innocent question. Louis seemed to realize it as well and began stuttering on his words

“I- um… yeah, I could. I guess, that’s if you… you want me to?” it was the first time Harry had heard Louis trip over his words and he found it incredibly endearing. Harry nodded his agreement as he shrugged on his backpack and Louis rose from his seat in the beanbag. He gave his mum a quick kiss on the cheek as he headed out the door and Harry held his hand out to the woman. Jay quickly looked to where Louis was waiting in the doorway before knocking Harry’s hand out of the way and pulling him in for a hug. 

Harry felt his heart constrict. With Jays arms wrapped around him, he couldn’t help but think of his own mum and how she was fairing all the way in Cheshire by herself. He wondered if she missed him as much as he missed her or if she’d gotten a cat or something to fill the void Harry left. He felt a new level of hatred for his father and before he could stop them, hot tears sprang into his eyes. Jay sensed the boy’s sudden stiff posture and pulled back slightly only to see the boy openly crying in front of her.

“Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?” She asked gently afraid she had over stepped her boundaries. Harry took in an uneven breath. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just my Mum hugs like that and I didn’t realize how much I missed her hugs until then” He explained between sobs. Not even caring that Louis was still staring at him, mouth agape. Jay pulled him back into another hug and this time Harry returned it, crying into the strangers shoulder. It was a minute or two before she pulled back again. 

“Listen, just have dinner with us. I’ll take you home later and explain it to your dad, yeah?” After a swipe of his eyes and a quick glance at Louis, who had resorted to sitting back on the bed, and gave a slow nod. 

Once Jay had left the room, Harry felt the need to apologize but he wasn’t sure if it should be to himself for letting his guard down or Louis for using his mum as a tear sponge. He decided the latter.

“I’m sorry Lou-“ Harry’s words were lost into the fabric of Louis shirt as the older boy pulled him into an embrace, arms wrapped tightly around Harry’s neck.

“Don’t you dare apologize, Harry. Do you hear me? You have nothing to be sorry for.” Harry didn’t fight it anymore; he didn’t want to fight it. He let his arms wind around Louis waist and clutched tightly to his back. They stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity when in actual fact was only a couple minutes, before Louis had reluctantly pulled back.

“You never have to apologize for crying Harry, okay?” Louis whispered whipping tears from Harry’s damp cheeks, his arms still tightly wrapped around his waist, as if it were a life line. His eyes met Louis’, emerald mixing with sapphire, and sunk back into the hug. He really could just stay like this forever.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning when Harry woke up, he hated everything. He loathed the sunlight that streamed through his half opened curtains. The loud bird calls annoyed him to no end. His bed was too warm under the covers but it was too cold to go without it. He hated the guilt that swarmed in his stomach, for not seeing him mum. He hated Louis and the emotions that he stirred within him. Harry just hated everything.

Jay had ended up dropping Harry off at around nine the night before – three hours later than when he should have been home. Harry was ready for his fathers’ wrath, he was expecting it really but, that didn’t mean he could deal with it – walking out on his father mid-rant. 

He had walked along the side of the road, the cold of the wind biting into his skin and making him shiver. He had stopped after about five minutes of walking and sat down, propping himself up against and old oak tree and pulling his jacket tighter around his chest. Harry was hyper aware of the phone in his pocket, wanting to reach for it to call his mum. Just to hear her voice, tell her he was okay. 

He had lasted no longer than a few moments before the urge became too great. He reached for the devise and punched in the long since memorized number. The line rang four times before there was static and an answer on the other end.

“Harry? Honey is that you?” Harry’s heart dropped at the sound of his mother’s voice through the phone. She sounded tired and worn, as if she hadn’t slept in days.

“Yeah, Mum. It’s me” Harry whispered his reply; the tears that were threatening his eyes were evident in the tone of his voice. “I’ve missed you.” he said after a shaky breath, tucking his free hand into his jacket sleeve to stop his fingers from numbing from the cold. 

Anne and Harry talked for over an hour. He had explained everything to her; how much he hated it at his dad’s, his weird conflicting feelings for Louis, what he had for breakfast that morning. And Anne listened adding a comment every now and then and more frequently making agreeable noises. She had eventually talked him into going back to the house to catch some sleep before school the next day. 

Which is what led Harry to be lying in his bed; staring at the plain white celling and hating everything. His father had already left for work and Harry was seriously considering skipping school and just staying in his bed for that day. The idea became more and more appealing as he tried to picture himself walking to school and trudging up the hallways towards his classes.

~*~

Harry wasn’t aware that he had fallen asleep until he was reawakened by the shrill screaming of his phone that rested on his bed side table. Reaching over, he plucked it off the surface and brought the lit up screen to his face. 

_1 missed call (10:53am) : Lou_

Harry’s groan of frustration was cut short by another series of beeps coming from his mobile. 

“What?” he huffed into the speaker, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Whoa, calm down. I was only going to ask why you’re not at school today.” Louis’ voice sounded guarded and amused. Harry sighed deeply and smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

“Because I hate everything and I would be on the verge of shooting Mr Baxter if I had to sit through another one of his lessons?” Louis chuckled on the other end of the receiver and Harry continued to run his hand over his brow.

“The Mr Baxter part, I can understand. But surely you can’t hate _everything_." Louis replied.

“Try me.” Harry deadpanned rolling over so he lay on his side and looking out the window, scowling at the trees that lay beyond the glass. On the other end of the line, Harry could hear shuffling and the sound of an opening and closing door. 

“What about puppies?” Louis asked after a moment, sounding further away than what he had before.

“They’re annoying and chew everything” Harry replied easily. He never really like dogs anyway, he was more of a cat person.

Louis thought for a second “Sunshine?”

“Too bright.”

“Darkness, then”

“Not bright enough.”

“Oh my God! You’re impossible.” Louis almost yelled making Harry smiled into the pillow at the other boy’s obvious distress, before realising he was meant to hate everything and quickly wiped it off. 

“What about…” Louis trailed off as he tried to think of something that would contradict Harry’s argument. 

“Ha! I’ve got it! What about me?” Louis asked excitedly and Harry frowned. 

"what _about_ you?" He asked puzzled.

“Me. What do you hate about me?” Louis enunciated each word as if he was explaining to a small child. 

“I hate that…” _shit_ Harry couldn’t exactly tell the older boy how he hated the way his smile lit up a room, because he didn’t hate it… He loved it. He couldn’t tell Louis that he hated the way that he could pick Harry up from his darkest mood because that also wasn’t true. Couldn’t tell him that he hated that Louis wore too tight of pants that displayed he ass wonderfully. He couldn’t tell the other boy that he hated that he couldn’t lie to him. Harry realised there was _nothing_ that he hated, or even disliked, about the wonderful, Blue-eyed, caramel-haired, hilarious boy on the other end of the phone.

“I hate that I can’t hate you.” Harry said truthfully, sitting up in his bed and letting the duvet fall around his bare waist and running a long-fingered hand though his untamed curls. There was silence on the other end other end of the line and Harry had though Louis had hung up. Until he heard some more shuffling and a door swinging open and shutting closed. 

“Haz?” Louis asked quietly, the sound of footsteps in the background. 

“Yeah?” By now Harry was up and had started to get dressed, he already had a pair of jeans on and some warm cotton socks and was now pulling a cream sweater over his head.

“Thank you.” Harry stopped buttoning up his tight blue jeans to concentrate on the voice coming through his phone.

“What for?” At the same time Harry had asked there was a knock on the front door. 

“Wait, Lou. Sorry, someone’s at the door. I’ll call you back later, yeah?” Without waiting for an answer Harry hung up the phone and tossed it on his bed. He finished zipping up his fly while he walked down the stairs towards the front door, his feet scuffing on the carpet that covered each step. Fixing his hair in a mirror that hung by the stairs he then swung the door open without looking though the peephole.

To Harry’s surprise, there on the front step stood Louis, looking amused and holding his mobile up in front of him. He was in his school uniform and his car was parked in the drive. Harry got caught up on the fact that Louis hair looked extra sex like today and the suspenders he was currently sporting were not helping with Harry’s lightly inappropriate thoughts of the blue-eyed boy. Louis broke though Harry’s confusion and daydreams with the sound of his sweet voice. 

“Thank you for being my friend.” Louis smiled. Harry couldn’t hold back the grin that beamed onto his face as hug pulled Louis though the doorway and into a hug. 

~*~

After the initial shock of Louis ditching school to spend the day with Harry had passed, Harry had dragged his friend into the lounge room telling him to pick a movie while Harry made tea. Louis had ended up choosing _Grease_ which has amused the curly haired Lad to no end. About 20 minutes into the movie Harry had run up to his bedroom stripping his duvet off the bed and dragging it back down to the lounge room to wrap Louis and himself in a warm cocoon of happiness.

Both boys had gravitated towards the centre of the lounge, their bodies now pressed together with the duvet draped over their bodies. Harry had his knees pressed to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs while Louis’ head had found itself resting on Harry shoulder and he had found a loose tread what was hanging off the seam of Harry’s jeans and was twisting it around his finger.

“Louis?” Harry asked without looking at him, eyes still glued to the screen in front of them where Danny and Sandy danced around each other. 

“Hm?” The boy in question replied, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes. 

“Why did you choose me as your drama partner?” Harry asked quickly before he could chicken out. Louis had not been expecting the question so he had no filter on what his reply would be. 

“I saw you standing there looking all nervous and cute and I knew that I wanted to be with you.” Out of all the ways Louis could have chosen to say that he picked the way that made Harry’s insides squirm. The words swam through his brain. _Saw you. Cute. Wanted to be with you._

Louis must have felt his change of mood because his lifted his head of Harry shoulder to meet the green eyes with his own blue ones.

“What?” Louis asked and Harry tried to cover up his blush with a smirk.

“You thought I was cute?” he asked teasingly and it was now Louis turn to blush. He honestly hadn’t realised he’d said that. Louis cursed his carelessness, what if he’d admitted his feelings for the curly haired lad. What if Harry hadn’t felt the same or worse, what if Harry hated Louis for being gay and kicked him out of his house and out of his life. The thought of Harry being homophobic mad him eternally shudder. Their friendship was something Louis was not willing to risk, so instead of answering he turned back to the movie and kept his mouth sealed.


	7. Chapter 7

Going to Niall’s house was not as awkward as Louis would have originally thought. After his and Harry’s day of movies and tea, he had almost forgotten that Harry had asked him to attend his friend sleepover with him until Harry had brought it up half way through their second cup of tea. Louis had been hanging out with Harry’s group of friends since they had become drama partners but Louis still didn’t know much about the other boys, apart from their names. 

Harry had an overnight bag packed, ready for Niall’s whereas the only clothing that Louis was currently in possession of was his school uniform, which he knew would not suffice. The curly-haired lad had suggested they swing by Louis’ house to pick up a couple things before he drove them to Niall’s.

Following much mucking around and fashion shows by Louis as he tried to decide what to bring, between that and as well as getting lost on the dive to Niall’s a couple times – it turned out Harry was useless at reading maps – It was about five in the afternoon by the time they actually ended up in the Irish boy’s home. Zayn was the one that had answered the door, smiling around a piece of red liquorish that was handing out of his mouth and ushering them into the house. The tanned boy led them into the lounge room of Niall’s family home, where mattresses covered the ground and sweets covered the coffee table.

Louis and Harry had placed their bags against the back of the lounge before joining the other boys on the mattresses while Liam and Niall played a mean game _FIFA_. Liam won much to Niall’s dismay and he began to sulk, stuffing his face with the bowl of crisps that sat in his lap while the others congratulated Liam on his victory. 

Harry was still in his stupidly cute blue jeans and cream sweater that rode up every thine the boy stretched his arms above his head, revealing a thin white strip of skin from his long torso and deliciously displaying his V lines. Louis had caught himself staring more than once but decided if Harry was going to tease him by looking like sex personified, he wasn’t going to do anything about it. Just enjoy the show.

Louis was surprised that after one short afternoon he could become such great friends with people he hardly knew. They all spent the whole night in fits of giggles as Niall’s laugh was contagious and he happened to laugh at everything. If it was true that laughing added years to your life, Niall was definitely going to be immortal. 

The boys had ordered pizza and settled down to a movie. Louis and Harry shared a mattress as did Liam and Zayn and Niall had chosen to reside on the couch. Louis wasn’t really paying attention to the people that flickered across the screen; he instead was looking at the profile of the boy that lay in front of him. To Louis, the way Harry’s tongue flicked out to wet his plump pink lips or the way his dark eyelashes curved against the white skin of his cheek after a prolonged blink or even the way his nostrils flared ever so slightly while he breathed in and out was much more fascinating than the events of _Zombieland_

As the movie played on, one by one the boys began to lose consciousness and drift into sleep. First was Zayn – he was out before the opening credits had finished, his soft snores could be heard from behind Liam, where he lay – Next was Liam himself, apparently the rhythmic sound of Zayn’s deep breathing was enough to lull the boy to sleep. Louis wasn’t sure who went next as Niall and Harry both seemed pretty out of if, closer to the end of the movie. Although Louis remained wide awake, the close proximity of the curly lad was enough to keep his eyelids pealed open.  
Once the film had finished – not that he was watching it anyway – Louis reached for the remote that was balancing on the coffee table, trying not to disturb the sleeping boys around him, he switched off the TV and rolled onto his back. A strip of pale moonlight leaked through a gap in the curtain and lit the quiet room, Louis mused at the flowery wallpaper that was only just visible, like it held all the answers to the universe.

The body beside his shuffled and he didn’t think much of it until Harry’s curly head came to rest softly on his chest and his arm fell across Louis’ waist. 

Louis froze and looked down at the figure that was cuddled into his side. The smell of Harry’s shampoo filled his nostrils, the sweet fruity scent turning his insides to jelly. Louis took a deep breath and watched Harry’s head rise and fall with his chest and it brought a smile to his face the way Harry’s hand scrunched around the material of his shirt as if he was scared Louis would leave. If only Harry knew, Louis wasn’t going anywhere. Ever. 

~*~

“GET UP, MOFOS!” Niall yelled, jolting Louis out of his sleep. His eyes flung open, the light instantly assaulting his vision. Louis tried to pull himself up onto he elbows but a warm heavy weight on his chest constricted his movements.

“Mmm… Fuck off” The boy stretched across Louis mumbled into the older boy’s shirt, snuggling closer into his side. As much as Louis loved Harry’s normal voice, it was nothing compared to his morning voice – all gravely and husky – Louis mentally declared it to be his favourite sound. 

Louis stretched his head around to where Niall was leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed casually. It was only then that he realised Liam and Zayn’s absence.  
“Where are the other boys?” Louis asked, pulling his groggy brain out of its current sleep mode. 

“They went out to get some breakfast” Niall shrugged and Louis nodded, more to himself than anyone else, and he felt Harry flex his arm before placing it back over Louis stomach. Louis had let Harry sleep on him because he was afraid that if he moved he would jostle the other boy awake –or that’s what he tried to tell himself, it had nothing to do with how normal it felt to have Harry pushed up against his side. Harry was awake, his eyes open and aware, so he didn’t really have any reason to still be draped across the older boy like he was. But he couldn’t bring himself remove his arm from Louis and Louis didn’t make him. 

The Irish lad watched them carefully, Harry’s head was laid delicately on Louis shoulder looking at something in the near distance and fiddling with the hem of Louis’ shirt and Louis lay on his back staring at the celling, toying with the ends of Harry’s hair. Neither of the boys looked like they were going to move anytime soon, there was an unspoken comfortableness between the two lads that Niall couldn’t understand.

“Comfy?” Niall asked, walking to the couch and sitting on the armrest, his feet dangled close to Louis’ head.

“If you wanted to join, all you had to do was ask” Louis replied, grabbing onto the lads leg and pulling him down to the beds. It wasn’t the most graceful of falls, Louis almost getting kneed in the crotch and Niall’s body landing mostly on Harry making the curly haired boy groan.

They then somehow got into a three-way wrestling match. Harry had Niall pinned underneath him with his hands trapped above his head; that was until Louis practically tackled Harry off, knocking them both onto the floor in a fit of giggles. 

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought everyone’s attention to Liam and Zayn who were looking down on the laughing boys curiously which launched them into a new burst of laughs. 

~*~

The weekend had come and gone and with it brought the dawning of a new school week. Louis wasn’t the brightest of all sparks and he knew that but what he lacked in smarts he made up for in charm. Most teachers would go easy on him, letting unfinished homework slide and giving him extensions to most assignments, they all knew he had to look after his sister due to his mother always hard at work.

Every teacher that was, besides Ms Sarah Winters. She knew very well how hard his mum worked but she also knew Louis could pull a masterpiece out of his arse with the right motivation. She could tell when Louis was bullshitting her and didn’t let him get away with anything and Louis, being the competitive boy that he is, rose to the challenge.

“Please Sarah?” Louis begged. It was lunch time and Louis had gone to his old friend’s classroom, knowing that she never left it, and put forward his request.

“No, Louis.” She said sternly, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m not letting you use the hall. You’re not even going to be doing the final performance there.” 

“Oh, come on! It will be after school so it’ll be empty, no one will know. I won’t tell anyone, I swear. Just please let us use it… please?” Louis looked up at her from under his eyelashes and could see her hard exterior cracking. _Just one more push._

“Why? And don’t give me some ‘I’m concerned about my education’ shit. Tell me the truth.” She warned. Louis knew he was going to have to act up his explanation but he also knew that he couldn’t lie; she would catch him out on his first word. _One more push_ he thought again.

“It’s… it’s because of Harry. He wants to do well for this assessment but we don’t have anywhere to practice. It’s hard to do it at my house because of the girls and for some reason Harry is very against me meeting his Dad… I don’t know why.” It was exactly the whole truth but it wasn’t a lie either. Sarah still didn’t look completely convinced.  
“And I just wanted to spend some… _alone time_ with him… If you know what I mean.” Louis had spent heaps of ‘alone time’ with Harry but Sarah didn’t know that nor did she ever need to. A smirk lit the young teacher's lips as she deciphered her student’s words.

“Oh really?” she asked wiggling her eyebrows and Louis rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. If there was anything that would ever get Sarah to crack, it was romance. She pulled a ring of keys out of her desk and held them out to Louis with a quiet ‘here’. As Louis went to reach for them though, she pulled it away.

“Don’t break anything.” She said it as if she expected him to conjure a tornado that would destroy the whole hall. Louis nodded once more and she handed him the keys. He smiled gratefully at her and rushed out the door.

Harry was leaning up against the wall outside the drama class, where Louis had left him. A beautiful smile dimpled his cheeks as Louis came out of the room swinging a ring of keys on his finger.

“Got ‘em” he smiled wickedly back at the younger boy as he fell into step beside him. They looked at each other probably a little bit longer than necessary but neither of them was keen to break the mix of blue and green. 

~*~

The keys jingled in the lock, as yet another key refused to open the extremely stubborn hall door.

“Did she tell you which one to use?” Harry put in unhelpfully and Louis switched to the next key along the ring. It fit in perfectly and twisted smoothly, unlocking the large door and opening it up to the large space beyond. Louis looked over his shoulder to where Harry stood and gave a shit-eating grin.

Both boys entered the hall, Harry looking around curiously as it was the first time he has seen it and Louis yelled random words just to hear them bounce off the walls and echo back to him. They reached the front of the room where a large stage was built into the side of the building. 

Louis threw his bag onto the platform and quickly hoisted himself up after it leaving Harry nothing to do but follow his actions. Louis had kicked off his shoes, sending them flying across the space – he’d never been truly fond of them – and pulled his ripped and slightly stained script out of his bag. Harry was standing in the middle of the stage looking out to the floor rocking back and forth on his heels, his bag and shoes were pushed to the far side of the stage. Louis came to stand beside the other boy.

“Don’t you need your script?” Louis asked searching for whatever it was in the hall that had taken the boys interest. Harry shook his head.

“I’ve memorised my lines.” he explained which caused Louis to look at him amusedly. Harry turned to meet his gaze “What? I was bored one night, okay?” He said in mock defence that made Louis chuckle.

“Alright, Shakespeare. Now, I was thinking we could do the actions as well as the lines. Just to get an idea of what it’s going to look like on the day?” Harry had nodded his agreement and took his place on the far right of the stage. Louis walked to the opposite side and sat down, crossing his legs.

“Ready?” Harry asked, waiting for Louis to get comfortable in his seat on the polished wood floor. Louis cleared his throat overdramatically before he began to speak, the words rolled off his tongue and his feet carried him around the space. Harry reciprocated to all of his movements without skipping a beat. 

The boys would repeat each scene until they could fluidly resite each line and execute each movement to perfection. 

“Harry! You’re facing the wrong way, you nut!” Louis laughed as his friend spun around quickly and smiled sheepishly.

“Look, we’ll that bit again and this time stand a couple steps closer, yeah?” Louis waited for Harry to nod before starting from the top of the page. It turned out that Harry had thought ‘a couple of steps’ meant an extra two metres because when Louis had turned around to face the younger lad, he had collided right into the other boy. 

Their chests were flush together and Louis grabbed onto Harry’s upper arms to stop himself from falling and Harry had steadied himself by clutching at Louis hips. Louis let out a small chuckle at the unexpected contact but Harry didn’t let go. Louis’ blue eyes looked up, seeking Harry’s green ones that were already looking at him. 

Louis couldn’t control the urge to let his gazer flicker down to where Harry’s tongue swept out to moisten his plum pink lips. Louis unconsciously copied the action, barely noticing the way Harry’s face begun hover closer to his own until their breath mixed at the close proximity. Harry had stopped his decent a few millimetres from his friends’ mouth. 

And, as usual, Louis body reacted without any consent from his brain, closing the space between them and sealing their lips together in a firm but careful kiss. Harry didn’t react for a few seconds and Louis began to panic; what if this wasn’t what Harry wanted? Louis started to think of how he could laugh it off and just pretend it was all just a joke; that was until he felt Harry push back into the kiss, returning the pressure and wiping all doubts and queries from Louis’ mind.

Louis hands travelled from around Harry’s arms to up around the base of his neck and threaded his fingers through the lusciously silky curls. In turn Harry looped his arms around Louis waist and turned his head to get a different angle and deepened the kiss, sucking Louis’ bottom lip into his mouth.

Louis ran his tongue along the other boy’s lip, begging for entrance; which Harry immediately complied. Their tongues brushed against each other, sending a shiver down Louis spine. He couldn’t help but think at how perfect Harry’s mouth on his felt, with every brush of lips or flick of tongues, Louis fell further and further for the boy that he held in his arms. 

Louis bubble of perfectness was shattered when Harry abruptly pulled away, his arms leaving the older boy as Louis’ own hands fell uselessly to his sides. Louis’ eyes opened to see a wide eyed Harry. His hands were clamped tightly across his mouth and his irises danced with a mix of fear and embarrassment.

“Haz?” Louis took a step forward toward the frightened boy and reached out a hand. Harry took a quick step back, keeping the distance between them and Louis felt as though by that simple movement that Harry has squashed his heart as if it was nothing but a bug. 

“Harry, please.” Louis begged taking one last step forward. The younger boy just shook his head, his brown curls bouncing across his face.

“I – I’m sorry. I have to go.” He said hurriedly, his voice slightly muffled from behind his hands and the words sent a stab of pain though Louis stomach. Harry rushed past him to pick up his bag and shoes and ran off the stage. 

“Harry, I’m sorry!” Louis called after him but he didn’t turn around, he just disappeared though the heavy door in which they’d come. Louis heart sank and his eyes prickled with tears; Harry hated him. He was one of the best things to have walked into Louis life and Louis had made the boy hate him.

“FUCK!” he screamed into the empty hall and yanking on his hair as if to pull it out by the roots before sinking to the ground. “Fuck everything” he whispered and the tears began to fall down his cheeks.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 3 in the morning... I think that is enough of a summery.

When Harry had fled the hall subsequent to the incident with Louis, he had run. Out of the school gates and into the streets, sock-clad feet pounding heavily on the pavement and long with and endless stream of _what have you done?_ Spinning though his head. 

He didn’t know where he was going, he couldn’t go home. His father would see his tear stained cheeks and want to know the reason for his son’s distress, and it’s not like Harry could explain to his father that he’s hates himself for kissing his best friend, unsure of how he felt about the kiss and confused because his best friend is in fact a presumably straight male which all boiled down to the utter hate and self-loathing he was currently feeling. 

The moment Louis had bumped into him on the stage hall, Harry felt as though he couldn’t let go. He craved the delicate hands that gripped tightly to his forearms. He wanted the warmth that drifted from under Louis school shirt and into Harry’s hands at his waist. He prayed for the longing stare in Louis blue depths. He longed for Louis carefree laugh. He needed Louis. His hair, his eyes, his warmth, his touch, his breath, Harry needed him. He hadn’t realised he’s been drifting closer to the boy that constantly plagued his thoughts, not until he was close enough that he could basically taste the mint gum on Louis breath.

Harry was then frozen. Enticed by Louis but not being able to continue his descent forward nor was he able to pull back. Louis needed to do something, step out of his embrace and laugh it off, just do something, because Harry knew that he wouldn’t be doing anything soon, not if they could stay like this forever.  
But what Harry had not been expecting, what he never thought that ‘something’ would be was a kiss. He did not expect that Louis would be slowly leaning up on his toes. Harry was not expecting the older lad to carefully close the gap that separated them and he definitely wasn’t expecting for their lips to brush and for it to feel so _perfect._

Throwing all rational thought aside and deciding to put his faith in _this is perfect._ . Harry leaned into the kiss. Copying Louis movements in perfect synchronisation, he explored the others mouth. Savouring the taste and feel of Louis tongue against his, Harry gripped tighter to the boy he was holding. And that’s when it hit him. _Boy._ The boy he was holding. Harry was kissing and holding a _boy_. That’s when he freaked out. 

But why did he freak out? Why did he run? It was fine in his head, it was amazing in his dreams so what made kissing Louis in reality so immoral? It’s what he’d wanted for so long…Wasn’t it? To feel Louis soft lips against his own, to have his warm arm wrapped around his neck and fingers tangled in his hair. It was right. It felt so right. So why did he run? He hated himself instantly, as soon as the hall door slammed behind him. Although, it wasn’t as if he could go back in there and be like _oh, sorry. I just had a little freak out but would you like to try that again?_

No,Harry had been a coward and he had run. 

~*~

Harry looked at himself in the mirror, red rings around his eyes and blotchy pink face. _Disgusting._ he thought to himself, _you’re disgusting._

To say Harry had been crying all day would be an understatement. He had forced himself to go to school, telling himself that he’s work things out with Louis and that everything would be fine. He knew it was a lie but it’s the best he could do. 

He’d seen Louis an all of 3 times today which was quite a dramatic change to their usual constant close proximity. First; when Louis had tried to wave him down on his way to art although Harry decided to stick with being a coward and weaved his way through the crowd and away from the boy desperately calling his name. Secondly; he was walking to their usual lunch table when he saw Louis sitting next to Liam pretending to listen to whatever he had to say. Their eyes met for a quick second before Harry dipped away, taking a seat next to some random girl who he thought was named Lily. And last was when he was walking back from the bathrooms to his class when he caught Louis’ eye form across the hall. Their eyes were connected long enough for Harry to see Louis mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ before ducking into a classroom. The fact that Louis somehow thought that this was his fault sent Harry over the edge and running back to the bathrooms, tears pricking in his eyes. 

“You’re a disgusting human being.” Harry said it out loud this time. He had made sure that all the bathroom stalls were empty before he stared a one sided hate session with his reflection. Having ‘He’s crazy’ tagging along to the end of a sentence was worse than ‘He’s new’. New tears sprung into his eyes and he rubbed a hand across his mouth, pushing his lips together. He held his breath in order to stop a sob from tearing itself from his chest.

Bracing his hands on the white porcelain sink, Harry clamped his eyes shut. Begging for the tears to subside but that only made it worse. He wiped his eyes, desperately trying to dry his cheeks when the sound of the bathroom door opening caused him to spin around quickly where he was faced with Niall. The Irish lad’s smile instantly dissipated the moment he took in Harry’s distorted state, taking a step forward he said,

“Haz, are you okay man?” Concern clearly written on his features. Harry nodded quickly and wiped his nose on his sleeve using the moment to think of a reasonable lie to get him out of explaining the situation to Niall when he didn’t understand it himself. 

“I’m – uh having and allergic reaction to the um… Pollen from the flowering plants… Around the grounds.” Harry clarified waving his hand around as if to gesture to the invisible flowers but his stomach dropped when he saw Niall’s eyebrows rise.

“It’s autumn.” The blonde stated “Things die in autumn… not flower” He clearly wasn’t buying the story Harry was trying the sell, but he couldn’t have his friends thinking he ran off to the bathroom to cry like a teenage girl. 

“It’s a… special plant that… flowers – Ah never mind.” Harry huffed defeated and move to exit out of the bathrooms when Niall caught his arm

“This has nothing to do with Louis, does it?” The question was so innocent and worried that Harry found he could no longer meet Niall’s eyes, nibbling his lip as a distraction to the new wave of tears threatening to spill. Carefully Harry shook his head, denying Niall’s claim.

“It’s just he’s been really down lately, too. And you guys haven’t really talked today so I just thought that maybe –“

“It has nothing to do with him!” Harry’s outburst had cut off the other boy’s inquiry. “It’s the fucking plants, alright?!” Niall’s jaw fell slack and his blue eyes grey wide in shock. Blinking a few times as if to fight down his own tears, Niall dropped his hand and took a step back. Harry had never sworn at him, in fact Harry found it hard to believe that anyone could get angry with Niall.

“Niall, I’m sorry.” Harry apologised lamely but it was too late. Niall was shaking his head and that simple movement made Harry’s stomach feel like lead.

“You need to work your shit out, man.” Was the last thing the blonde said to him before backing out the way he’d come. Harry felt absolutely defeated; he buried his face in his hands and jerked his head backwards. A splitting pain entered his skull where it had just collided with the bathroom wall. Harry repeated the action until the throbbing in him brain became too much to handle and he sunk down onto the bathroom floor, pulling his legs up to his chest and tightly wrapping his arms around them. Harry began to cry.

~*~

When Harry had gotten home his eyes felt like sandpaper and he was utterly exhausted. His father wasn’t home and Harry was thankful that he had at least that in his favour as he trudged up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him. He dropped his bag to the floor with a heavy thud before snaking his way under the duvet of his bed. Using the same approach as he did with his father, Harry figured that if he was to survive his own company he was most likely to survive it if he was asleep. He was wrong.

Harry’s dreams held no escape from the utter hatred he felt for himself as his subconscious created numerous scenarios, all revolving around Louis and his completely crushed expression when he mouthed those simple words to Harry. 

~*~

Harry decided against going to school the next day, instead he spent most of his morning staring at the white paint of his ceiling. He would have had drama today, his only class with Louis, the only class he’d been avoiding like the plague. He couldn’t face the beautiful blue-eyed boy. He would, without doubt, crumble. 

It was about 11am when he realised he was still in his school uniform from yesterday and it’d probably best if he had a shower and freshen up. The scolding hot water on his face helped, it cleared his head from a hazy fog that had been hovering over his brain for the last few days. But even though he was now thinking clearly, he still didn’t have the guts to call Louis, or even text him, to explain everything. Instead he lazed about the house and wallowed in self-pity. 

Numerous texts from Liam and Zayn questioning him on his whereabouts went ignored as Harry huddled up for his third Disney movie in a row. His hands wrapped tightly around a steaming mug of tea and eyes slowly drooping closed as Aladdin pranced around the screen. 

~*~

Thursday wasn’t any better, although Harry had been able to drag himself out of bed before ten o’clock so he counted that as a mini victory. He called his mum which started a two hour conversation, she had brought up Louis a few times but Harry was quick to change the subject or just didn’t comment on her questions. By 1pm he had resorted to lounging in front of the television with a bowl of buttery popcorn and the events of _The Notebook_ unfolding before of him. Harry had fallen asleep somewhere towards the end of the film, a sharp knock at the door bringing him back to consciousness.

Untangling himself from a mountain of blankets, he padded his way across the cold tiles and towards the persistent banging. Without looking thought the peephole, Harry opened the door and there in front of him stood Zayn. Harry was about the greet the agitated looking boy when his own Bradford-accent laced words cut him off,

“Where the fuck have you been?” He spat, folding his arms tightly against his chest. Heaving a deep sigh Harry wrapped his arms around his hoodie covered frame.

“I don’t have time for this, Zayn.” Harry deadpanned.

“Oh, yeah? Did you have _that_ little time that you couldn’t text me or Liam back? We were worried, man. Especially after Niall said he saw you crying in the bath–“  
“I wasn’t fucking crying!” Harry practically yelled “I was having an allergy thing to some plants. It’s no big deal, just forget it.” Zayn stared at him blankly and Harry felt as though this was a repeat of what happened with Niall. He’d get angry at himself for getting angry at his friend who was only trying to help. 

“No, Harry. You don’t get _this_ pissed off if someone mistakes an allergy for crying, so you better tell me what’s up or, I swear to god, I will come in there and beat it out of you.” Zayn threatened and Harry didn’t doubt him for a second. Sighing heavily, Harry pulled the door back further as an invitation for Zayn to enter. 

The tan boy stepped into the house eyeing Harry wearily as the younger of the two closed the door behind them. Without saying anything, Harry led them into the kitchen and flicked on the kettle. 

“Okay, now spill.” Zayn ordered taking a seat on one of the stools near the counter.

“Are you sure you don’t want a cup of tea? Or coffee?” Harry offered not meeting the other boy’s eyes.

“No. Stop trying to change the subject, sit down and tell me what’s been happening with you lately.” Harry followed Zayn’s first instruction, pulling up a stool next to his friend but didn’t say anything as he examined the marble counter top like it was the most fascinating thing he’d seen. 

After a moment, Zayn groaned in frustration. “Okay, do you want me to try and guess and you can just nod or shake your head but, if I do get it right you have to give me details. Okay?” The younger boy reluctantly agreed. Zayn tapped his fingers on the bench and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling as if it held all the answers. 

“Did you… Have a fight with your dad?” The black haired boy ventured, keeping his head back but looking down at Harry who shook his head slowly.

“Okay, is it… ‘cause you miss your mum so much?” Once again, Harry shook his head while adding,

“I do miss her but, that’s not it.” 

“What? Do you have your fucking period or something?” Harry chuckled at that one before shaking his head. Zayn sighed and lowered his head, looking Harry straight in the eye.

“Is it Louis?” He asked with dead seriousness. Harry felt his body go ridged and his eyes widen and there was no way that Zayn could have missed the fear that flooded his eyes. The younger boy knew he couldn’t lie his way out of this one. Zayn could be difficult to read sometimes but he wasn’t stupid. Slowly Harry nodded, not able to meet Zayn’s chocolate gaze.

“Okay. Now, what bout Louis?” Harry took a deep breath and mustered all his courage, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to watch Zayn’s judgemental eyes 

“Wekissedwhilewewerepracticingfordramaandnowimfreakingoutcauseidontknowwhattodo.” He spoke so quickly his words jumbled into one. Harry re opened his eyes to see Zayn staring at him in confusion. 

“What?” He asked simply and Harry buried his face in his hands. He could do this, he could tell Zayn. 

“Louis kissed me.” He said quietly, looking through his fingers as Zayn whose facial expression became unreadable. “Or I could have kisses him? I don’t know.” Harry felt a blush creep up his neck and his face flushed.

“So?” Zayn’s expression was blank but his eyes were swinging with whirls of emotion. 

“What do you mean ‘so?’” Harry almost yelled. Anger was consuming him, he was angry at himself for caving in and telling Zayn but he was also angry at Zayn for now showing any emotion about finding out two of his friends had locked lips. 

“I mean so what’s the problem?” Zayn stated as if it was the most obvious thing ever. “It’s clear that you both like each other.”

“I don’t like him!” Harry slammed his hands down on the counter causing Zayn to jump slightly. Harry then lowered his gaze before continuing quietly. “At least not like that… I’m not gay.” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Zayn or himself. 

“How do you know? Have you ever done anything with another boy besides Louis?” The question took Harry by surprise, if he was honest he was quite amazed at how well Zayn was taking this. 

“I… No.” Harry replied frowning, lacing his fingers together and slowing looking up. 

“And did you like kissing Louis?” Came Zayn’s next question. Harry nibbled on his lip as he tried to think of an answer. Harry had kisses plenty of girls, he’d been considered quite a ladies man back home in Holmes Chapel but none of them could even compete with what it felt like to kiss Louis. His lips were firmer than a girl’s but at the same time more gentle. He feel of Louis’ slight stubble scratching against his face was quite unusually yet exhilarating at the same time and he didn’t smell like fake fruity body spray like most other girls had. He smelt musky and earthy and like home. To tell the truth, kissing Louis would easily rank in Harry’s top 10 but he didn’t think he could tell Zayn that, so instead he opted for a safer option.

“It… it was nice.” He said finally. Zayn threw his arms to the sides and widened his eyes to almost three times their regular size.

“See! And what about girls? How far have you gone with a girl?” Zayn asked as if it was something regularly brought up in day to day conversation.

“I’ve had a few blowjobs and stuff but I’ve only ever had sex twice… If that’s what you mean?” Harry blushed and Zayn nodded. 

“And how was it?” Zayn was slowly getting closer to Harry, like he was excited about explaining his point to the younger lad. 

“Honestly? Both times were… horrible. It was awkward and uncomfortable and I didn’t enjoy it… At all.” He replied scrunching his nose up at the memory. The black haired boy leaned back in his stool and joined his fingers together behind his head, a large smile almost splitting his face. 

“Mate, I mean you might be bisexual but, I think you are almost definitely gay.” Tears sprung into Harry’s eyes at his friend’s evaluation and Zayn’s smile wavered.

“Harry, what’s wrong? I might be mistaken but even if I’m not, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.” Zayn rested a careful hand on Harry’s shoulder, rubbing slightly. Before he could help it, a sob ripped itself from Harry’s chest and the tears rolled down his cheeks. Zayn was quick to get up from his chair and wrap Harry in a hug.

“Hey Haz, it’s going to be okay.” Harry didn’t reply, instead he gripped onto his friend’s back and sobbed into the material of his shirt. It was a few minutes of Harry crying before Zayn piped up,

“Harry, you know there’s a party this weekend. Its why Li and I were texting you, we wanted to know if you wanted to go? Maybe it’ll help get your mind off things?” Zayn offered, when Harry pulled back and wiped his arm over his tear stained cheeks. The younger boy considered for a moment then nodded, not trusting his voice. Zayn smiled and pulled Harry back into a hug  
“You’re going to be okay.” He said into Harry’s curls and the other boy had no choice but to put his faith in Zayn’s words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg guys, I really hate the summary for this story. It physically hurts me but I just don't know what else to write. So, your mission is to please please pleeeeaaasssseeeee give me suggestions for a new one. I'll love you forever...


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday arrived faster than Harry would have liked. Spending half the day on deciding what to wear, he has settled with a pair of tight skinny blue jeans and his favourite _Ramones_ shirt finished off with his white convers and heavy winter coat. Harry shook his hair out in front of the mirror and pushed it back to the side. His gaze travelled his reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror and couldn’t help but notice that, from his shoes to his tired eyes, he looked exhausted; which should have been impossible seeing that he had probably slept more in the past three days that he would have in a week.

His mind was constantly buzzing with thoughts of Louis and his conversation with Zayn. He tried to ignore both and instead focused on unpacking the rest of his things that were still lined in boxes along the wall on the Friday, once again choosing not to attend school. The distraction had been a welcome one, even if it had only lasted for an hour. Zayn had texted him the address to the party which was only a 20 minute walk from his house so he decided he would make the journey on foot. Plus the walk back would give him some time to sober up.  
He’s arrived at around 9 – because he’s lost track of time while watching re-runs of _Friends_ – and the party was in full swing. The music could be heard a few streets over and Harry would not be surprised if one of the neighbours called the police to complain about the noise. People were spilled all over the front garden, and pouring into the house. 

Once inside, Harry took a swig of whatever beverage he was holding –most likely cheap beer. The liquid burned down his throat and warmed up his stomach. The drunken teenagers around him pulsed to the loud music blearing though the speakers, bodies grinding up against one another and speaking hotly with slurred voices. 

Harry spotted Niall dancing with a brunette girl who was obviously wasted but judging but Niall’s dance moves he wasn’t far off her current state. Noticing Harry’s gaze, the blonde lad held up two slightly wonky thumbs up along with a dopey smile. Harry returned the gesture and let out a bemused chuckle when the other boy started doing something that resembled the Macarena.  
Harry then began to skim his eyes over the other parts of the intoxicated crowd. Beth, a girl from his and Zayn’s art class, was attempting to flirt with a very sober looking Liam across the other side of the room. Her attempts are fruitless though, much to Zayn’s amusement. Zayn was leaning against the arm of a couch with a bear bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other watching the pair in front of him with an entertained but slightly protective smile.

Without Harry realising a girl has also began to talk to him, he only noticed her advances when she tripped over her own feet and spilt a large amount of fruity smelling alcohol down the side of his jeans. Reaching forward to stop the nameless girl from tumbling to the ground, Harry carefully took hold of her shoulders and led her to a couch in the centre of the room before making her sit.  
“I’ll be back in a second with some water, alright?” He yelled over the music to the blonde girl who was currently stroking his arm. She nodded but gripped tightly to his hand before he could leave.

“When you come back, will you have sex with me?” She asked almost innocently and Harry nearly choked on his tongue.

“Um no?” It sounded more like a question than he wanted it to; the girl seemed to notice this too and gave him a sly smile and mumbling something like _hurry back_ . Before she could latch herself on to him again, Harry was bee lining for the kitchen. 

The music was quieter at the far end of the house where the kitchen was located, which Harry was thankful for, his head was beginning to throb with the beat of the base. Swinging around a corner, Harry was met with the sight of two people feverishly making out. One was sitting on the counter who was mainly blocked from sight by the other was standing in between their legs. Fighting down a scoff, the curly haired lad began searching cupboards for a glass. 

Once the glass had been filled Harry spun back around to leave, when he saw him. The people making out against the counter, the one that was mainly hidden from view, it was him. It was Louis. The blonde girl instantly disappeared from his mind as he stared at the scene in front of him. _Louis'_ lips were tangled in someone else’s hair, _Louis’_ lips were pressing against someone else’s, _Louis’_ legs were wrapped around another boy’s waist. 

Harry felt the air get knocked out of his lungs and his heart jump into his throat while his stomach plummeted to his feet. His hand released the glass that went crashing to the floor as his eyes pricked with tears. As much as it hurt him to see Louis with someone else, he couldn’t look way. Frozen in to the spot with the spilled water soaking into his shoes, Harry watched on. 

It was only a second later when the stranger began to run his hands up Louis thighs, electing a moan form the caramel haired boy, that Harry’s brain remembered how to function. He stepped forward, he tore the boy way from Louis, both making sounds of protest – not that Harry cared. He was feeling so much jealousy, so much hate, and so much betrayal but mainly anger. He was so angry with himself for not apologising to Louis, with the stranger who was currently making out with his best friend and with Louis for forgetting about him so quickly.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He spat in the strangers face, using his height to his advantage so he was looking down on the other boy and gripping tightly onto the collar of his shirt. The other boy’s eyes widen with fear as he stared up at Harry’s fuming face. 

“Harry, stop –“ Louis yelled reaching for his shoulder to pull him back but Harry just shook him off. 

“If you ever touch him again, I’ll break your arm. Do you hear me?” Harry growled from behind clenched teeth. The other boy’s mouth fell open as he nodded his head quickly. “Then get out of here.” Harry Released his collar and the boy scrambled out of the kitchen, the curly haired boy watching him go with a victorious smirk.

His victory was short live when less than a second after the boy disappeared into the crowd his head jerked forwards as a hand slapped into the back of his skull. He spun quickly, just in time for Louis knuckles to connect with his cheek bone with a hard smack.

“What the fuck Harry?” His words were slightly slurred but his eyes were bright and fierce. The boy in question had to raise his hand swiftly in order to catch Louis’ fist that was flying towards his face.  
“What the fuck would you do that? What is wrong with you?!” Louis yelled resisting against Harry’s hands that had moved from his fist to wrap tightly around his wrist. Instead of answering, Harry began pulling the slightly smaller lad towards the door.

“Harry, answer me!” Louis screamed, hauling his arm out of Harry’s grip. “Why did you do that? Why do you even care? If it’s a jealousy thing then that’s just ridiculous! I tried kissing you remember? But you ran away! So forgive me if I want to snog with someone who won’t be a coward, forgive me for wanting to kiss someone who won’t run –“ Louis’ mouth was silenced by Harry’s own. Louis only fought it for a second before leaning up into the kiss, arms wrapping tightly around Harry’s neck as if he afraid the other boy disappear. 

It was messy and desperate. Harry’s tongue slipped into Louis’ mouth without protest, sliding against each other’s in frantic need. Louis began sucking on Harry’s bottom lip, producing a whimper for the younger boy and he placed his hands on Louis’ hips, mainly to stop himself falling if his jelly like knees gave way.

Harry blindly led Louis backwards, pushing him up against the wall and changing the angle of their mouths. He poured everything he had into that kiss; his anger, his sadness, his loneliness, his hate, his love, his need, his longing. Louis’ hands travelled from around Harry’s neck to cup his face, slowing down the feverish pace of the kiss to something more intimate, more personal.  
Harry hadn’t realised he’d begun to cry until Louis brushed his thumb across Harry’s cheekbone and smearing the salty water across his cheek. Carefully, Harry pulled back but no willing to go any further than he had to, he rested his forehead on Louis’ and took in a shuddering breath. 

Without opening his eyes, Harry whispered “I’m sorry for being coward. I’m sorry for…For everything.” He felt Louis smile against his lips as he placed a gentle kiss on them. With Harry’s head still in his hands, Louis pulled him down slightly before kissing his cheek bone.

“I’m sorry I punched you in the face.” He chuckled, a sound Harry never wants to go without hearing. He pealed his eyes open to see a shimmering pair of blue ones looking right back at him.  
“I deserved it.” He replied honestly making Louis grin grow.

“Yeah, you kind of did.” Harry cracked a smile but instantly regretted it when the muscle around his eyes began to burn, he could feel it bruising already. Louis smiled sympathetically, sliding his hands from Harrys face to down his neck, across his chest and along his arms to hold onto his hands. Harry leaned into the touch, memorizing the feel of Louis hands against his skin.  
“How about we get out of here, huh? I could walk you home?” Louis offered sounding a lot less drunk than he had before and Harry gave a grateful nod. 

“I just better tell Liam I’m leaving.” Harry explained. Louis smiled understandingly and with one more careful kiss he was gone in the direction of the front door where he said he’d wait for Harry.  
The younger of the two had the more challenging mission of having to find Liam. Weaving though the mass of bodies, Harry finally stumbled upon Liam and a very upset –and drunk – Niall. The blonde boy was crying into his friend’s shoulder and mumbling something about but wanting to live with the Spice Girls to which Liam was rubbing his back soothingly. 

“I’m going to head home, yeah?” Harry had to yell louder now that they were closer to the speakers. Liam nodded and gave him a quick thumbs up.

“I’ll have to get this one home pretty soon anyway.” Liam yelled back gesturing to the drunken Irish lad in his arms. The boys parted with kind smiles and a promise to hang out sometime later in the week. 

Like Louis said he would be, he was waiting for Harry just outside the front door, leaning casually against a pole. His face lit up when Harry emerged from the crazy atmosphere inside the house, grin stretching onto his face and his eyes crinkling slightly at the sides. 

Harry fell into step beside the beautiful boy as they strolled out of the gate and onto the sidewalk. Louis’ hand reached round to take hold of Harry’s but Harry withdrew his hand quickly, stopping in his tracks. 

“What’s wrong?” Louis asked looking concerned and Harry felt a wave of guilt crash over him. 

“Nothing. It’s just…” The younger boy trailed off, looking over his shoulder to where a group of smokers were hanging out, in the front garden of which they had just come. 

“You’re worried what they might think.” It wasn’t a question. Harry felt ashamed that Louis might think that he was embarrassed to be seen with him but he nodded nonetheless. Louis smiled sadly, “It’s okay, we don’t have to hold hands. It’s fine.” 

“No, it’s not fine. I want to be able to hold your hand without caring what other people think. I’m sick of being a coward.” Harry hung his head in defeat, staring at the grubby pavement below. He saw Louis’ black vans slide into his visible square of the side walk as the other boy took a step closer and leaned forward so his lips brushed against Harry’s ear,

“Then don’t be.” Louis whispered, his hand reaching down to take Harry’s and threading their fingers together. They stayed like this for a second; chest to chest with their hands lased. After Harry discovered that no one had yet called him a faggot or thrown something their way, he let his eyes flutter open. Louis was smiling up at him, eyes shining with pride. Harry risked a quick glance over to the smokers who seemed to not notice –or not care – that the two boys just outside the gate weren’t just holding hands but were standing much closer than friends should. The smaller boy stepped away but kept their hands tightly linked, tugging Harry along.

~*~

It was just passed midnight when the boys reached Harry’s house. Conversation kicked up easily between them in the first half of their journey, the second half they just enjoyed each other’s company. Their hands remained laced until Louis gave his third shudder against the cold, his thin hoodie not giving him much protection against the late autumn wind. Harry had untangled their fingers, much to Louis confusion, only to unbuttoned his large coat and snuggle Louis into his chest, wrapping him up in the warm material that smelt strongly of Harry. 

The boys only separating when Harry had to retrieve his house key from his pocket and fit it in the lock. The door swung open with ease, the cool air rushing into the warmth of the house. Harry turned back to see Louis shifting his weight from foot to foot with his hands buried deep in his pockets.

“Goodnight, then. I guess.” Louis teeth chattered against the cold and Harry gave a dramatic eye roll.

“You can come in, you know?” Harry opened the door wider into the inviting house. 

“You shouldn’t invite someone in on the first date.” Louis’ slightly blue tinted lips lifted to create a smirk. 

“Lucky this wasn’t a date.” Harry pulled Louis into the house by his hoodie and pushed the smaller lad against the door as soon as it shut. Louis’s icy lips soon warmed up from Harry working them with his own. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, just snogging against the door when Harry decided to take a bold step,

“Bed?” he whispered against Louis’s lips, only to hear the boy whine in agreement. Harry took Louis hand and led him up the stairs and into his room, making sure to shut the door behind them.  
This time Louis was the one to back Harry into a structure, pushing him up against his bedroom door, Louis lips began to place open mouthed kisses at Harry’s neck. He found a sweet spot on the side of Harry’s neck which made him moan filthily as the older boy sucked a love bite onto his friend. 

Teeth scraped at the younger boy’s skin, teasing out a whimper, Louis tongue was quick to sooth the pleasant pain left in its wake. Harry leaned forward off the door far enough for Louis to slide his coat off his shoulders before pushing him back against the door. This time Louis’ lips returned back to Harry’s in a feverish kiss, Harry had been able to slip his hands in between them in order to unzip Louis’ hoddie and toss it to the floor.

Spinning them around, Harry leaned Louis against the wooden frame. His hands roamed to Louis thighs where he placed his large hands underneath his arse pulled him up, without breaking the kiss, Louis legs wrapped around his waist to stop himself from falling. Harry carried Louis back towards his bed and sat on the edge with Louis on his lap, hands pulling slightly on his curls. Harry toed off his shoes before helping Louis with his. The older of the two reached for the hem of Harry’s shirt, breaking the kiss long enough to lift it over his head. 

The shirtless boy then shimmied back onto the bed; lying down with Louis straddling his hips, running his hands down Louis’ chest and bringing them back up along with the material of his shirt and pulling it off to join his own on the floor. Their lips reconnected and Louis ground down against the boy under him when a knock came at his door. Both boys eyes widened with panic, Louis quickly went to remove himself from Harry but miscalculated the roll, falling off the bed with a heavy thud just as the door opened. 

Harry lay shirtless in the centre of his bed looking up at his father who was standing in his pyjamas in the door way. The boy begged his breathing to level out and also prayed to whatever god there was that his dad wouldn’t see Louis, there was no way he could talk his way out of that nor could he talk his way out of the, not so discrete, tightening in his pants.

“So, did you have a good night?” His father’s voice sounded tired and Harry propped himself up on his elbows and gave a curt nod, wishing the conversation to be over with.

“I honestly didn’t expect you back until the early hours of the morning.” He chuckled, though is sounded a little forced. 

“Yeah, the party was kind of shit.” His father nodded and turned to go, although, he seemed to change his mind and he turned back to his son. “Good night, Harry.” 

“Uh – Yeah, good night, Dad.” His father left the room without another word. Harry released a deep sigh and feel back onto the pillows, running a hand over his forehead. He felt the bed dip as Louis crawled his way over to the younger boy, cuddling into his side. 

“That was close.” Louis whispered into the darkness. Harry hummed in agreement before rolling onto his side and wrapping his arm tightly around Louis’ smaller frame.

“A little too close.” He whispered back into Louis’ hair. “Maybe, tonight we should just sleep?” Louis nodded against his chest and snuggled a little but closer.

“’Night, Haz.”

“Goodnight, Lou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol sorry, not sorry.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhhh oh my god! I am so so so so so so so sorry this took so long. School has been crazy and I just haven't had the time but alas! It is here. I completely understand if you hate me so this is my poor attempt of trying to bribe you with smut :)

A dull but manageable pain swarmed Louis head, pulling him out of a restful sleep. His eyelids fluttered open, instantly squinting against the light that filtered through the crack in the maroon curtains. Something in the back of Louis mind reminded him that the curtains in his room were navy blue not dark red. With a panicked gasp he also realised he wasn’t in his own bed. His eyes flung back open and he whipped his head around where he found Harry’s face nuzzling closer into the pillow and a muffled hum. Louis sighed in relief, some of the tension in his shoulders dissipating. Harry’s left eye seemed to be sealed shut by the swelling that encased his cheekbone and Louis felt an instant wave of guilt as he remembered the previous night’s events. 

He’d shown up to the party when everyone was a little bit more than tipsy, instantly downing whatever drinks were handed to him. Not being one to handle their alcohol well, Louis quickly became intoxicated, stumbling around the house in search of more beer. He’d just convinced a girl to share her vodka with him when he noticed a boy leaning up against a nearby wall looking almost as pissed as he was. Louis recognised the boy as Jake Karmin, one of the only openly gay people that attended his school.

Not thinking much of it, and needing a good distraction from a certain curly haired lad who mashed up his heart, Louis was quick to make his advances. He’d been too busy snogging that he hadn’t realised or cared that someone else had entered the kitchen; it was only when Jake was being pulled away from him that Louis registered the other person’s presents. Harry was pushing the other boy away from Louis much like a child not wanting to share their favourite toy. 

Louis had never gotten into a fist fight before so he wasn’t sure what had made him reach out and punch Harry, a new wave of guilt coursed through him as he remembered the feeling of the hard bone underneath his knuckles. Shaking his head, to rid himself of the memory, Louis then focused onto what happened once he and Harry had arrived back to the house. 

Arousal twisted in his stomach and his jeans began to tighten and remembered the feel of Harry’s hands raking over his chest and caressing his bum, the way Harry’s lips felt on his own. Feeling a bit awkward about getting hard while lying next to his best friend, who just so happened to be the reason for his arousal, Louis rolled out of the bed. With one last look at Harry, Louis padded across the floor towards the door and opened it gently. 

To Louis’ surprise there was a note taped to the back of Harry’s door. It was from Harry’s dad, saying he got called into work and that he wouldn’t be home until, at least, five. Louis felt a little relived as he read the messy scrawl, he now had the freedom leave Harry’s room without the fear of getting caught buy the older man. 

Louis peaked out of the door way and examined the landing. Everything looked quite different without Harry’s face pressing against his and as the thought entered his head Louis’ cock twitched in approval. Without having been given a tour of the house, Louis was unsure as to which closed door would lead him to the bathroom, taking a wild guess; he opted for the one right down the end. Pleased to find his assumption had been right, Louis entered the small tiled room. 

After stripping himself of his jeans and underwear, Louis turned on the shower to as hot as it would go and jumped in under the scalding water. Taking his hard cock in his hand, Louis began to pump his fist. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to muster the memory of last night’s kisses and touches; tightened his grip and bitting back a moan, tugging harder and faster. The water from the shower was beating down hard on the back of his neck while his nimble fingers worked up and down his almost painfully hard erection. Remembering the feel of Harry’s mouth, the blue-eyed boy imagined those lips to be wrapped around his cock and sucking hard. Louis came over his hand with Harry’s name falling from his lips. 

Quickly washing the rest of himself and shampooing his hair, Louis stepped out of the shower, reaching for one of the fresh looking towels sitting atop of the counter and wrapping it around his waist. He wondered back to Harry’s room, stopping only when a ginger cat shot past him and into one of the other rooms that branched off the landing.  
Louis admired Harry’s room, everything seemed to scream _Harry_ and it left Louis feeling warm and content. Hoping the other boy wouldn’t mind, Louis pulled on a grey pair of Harry’s sweat pants and a white t shirt. The clothes were a little too big for him and he stood on the bottoms of the sweats, so much so Louis hand to roll them up a few times. He snatched a dark blue beanie off Harry’s desk and pulled it over his slightly damp hair before crawling back into the bed. 

Louis carted his fingers through Harry’s hair and smiling when he made a sound of appreciation. The older boy leaned down to kiss the curly haired lad’s forehead,  
“Wake up, Harry.” He whispered, lightly scratching at Harry’s scalp. The sleeping boy mumbled something that was muffled against the pillow. Louis spoke again, this time a little louder,

“Come on, Haz. Time to wake up.” Harry’s left eyelid slowly pealed back, while the other was swollen shut. Louis gave a sympathetic smile as the other boy winced against the pain covering the whole right side of his face. Leaning back down, Louis bushed his lips against Harry’s in a simple kiss,

“Good morning.” Louis greeted, still running his hands through the thick curls.

“Hmm. You smell like soap.” Harry hummed in approval causing Louis to chuckle. Harry then reached up and tucked a few loose strands of Louis’ hair behind the beanie. Louis leaned into the younger boy’s touch while he fingered the blue material for a moment.

“Is this mine?” He asked sounding slightly amused and Louis bulled back. The caramel haired boy felt his brow knit together as he tried to determine if he’s over stepped his boundaries by helping himself to Harry’s clothing.

“Yeah, I uh – had a shower and borrowed some of your clothes. I hope that’s okay?” but Harry laughed at his child like expression and pulled Louis down into a hug.

“It’s fine, it suits you anyway.” Louis could hear Harry’s smile in his voice as he placed a quick kiss in Louis’ hair. Louis wiggled down the bed on his belly and rested his cheek on Harry chest, staring up that the beautifully bruised boy in front of him. 

“Wait, how did you get to the bathroom and back without my dad hearing you?” Harry asked a little while later and Louis shrugged,

“He’s not here, there was a note left on your door. He said he had to go to work and won’t be home until late.” Louis recited pushing himself up on his arms so his face hovered over Harry’s. 

“Good.” Was all Harry said before leaning up and closing the gap between His and Louis’ mouths.

~*~

The boys stayed in Harry’s bed just cuddling and exchanging lazy kisses, for the most part of the morning, only deciding to leave the warm comfort when Harry’s stomach continued to grumble, expressing his hunger. 

Harry had offered to cook them eggs and toast and Louis was thankful for three reasons. One, it sounded delicious and he was rather hungry. Two, Louis couldn’t cook to save his life and was extremely relieved when Harry had offered. And the third and final reason was that Louis quite liked the image of Harry in a little apron and chef’s hat. Not that the curly-haired boy would be wearing either of those things but Louis liked to pretend. 

Once they had finished their filling breakfasts and their dirty plates were in the sink, both boys had made their way into the lounge room. Remembering it was Louis’ favourite movie, Harry placed _Grease_ into the DVD player before snuggling up with Louis under a blanket he’d left on the lounge the day before. 

Throughout the movie Harry had brought in tea and a packet of strange donut shaped biscuits. Placing the mugs on the coffee table Harry settled back down into Louis side, placing his head on his friend’s shoulder. Louis wasn’t paying much attention to Harry as the other boy drew the biscuit packet up to his face, pulling out one and slipping it onto his middle finger then did the same for the rest of his fingers until they were all bejewelled with the sweet snacks. 

One by one, Harry stuck his fingers into his mouth, sucking the biscuit into his mouth and munching happily. Louis chucked once when he noticed what the other boy was doing, Harry tilted his head up to meet his blue eyes, his cheeks pushed out with half chewed biscuits.

Louis drank in Harry’s innocent gaze, his emerald eyes swirling with trust and happiness that Louis wanted Harry to be his forever. It was then that Louis was struck with realisation. 

“Oh god, that reminds me!” He exclaimed carefully pushing Harry off him and turning to face the boy to his side. Tucking his legs up under him, so he was on his knees, he pulled a round biscuit out of the box, holding it in his fingers. Louis reached forward to take Harry’s hand with his spare one and looked straight into the other boy’s eyes as he said,

“Harry Styles, will you do me the amazing honour of being my boyfriend?” Louis asked seemingly out of the blue. Having swallowed his mouthful of the sugary treat, Harry smiled widely despite the pain shooting though his eye. He hauled Louis closer so their lips brushed in a perfect kiss. Pulling back a minute later, Harry rested their foreheads together

“Of course.” He whispered. Louis wasted no time in slipping the biscuit as far as it would onto his ring finger – which was barely past the first knuckle and laughed at the corniness of it all. Smiling cheekily, Harry brought his hand to his mouth and chewed off the ring. Louis mouth dropped in false horror, much to Harry’s amusement.

“You ate my honour!” Louis shouted, pushing Harry back so he fell onto the couch in a fit of laughter. Louis wiggled his way between Harry’s legs and lay on top to the other boy, using him as a human mattress, and waited for Harry to get his breath back before pecking the younger boy’s lips. 

Harry’s hands rose to cup Louis’s cheeks, stopping him from pulling away, and swiped his tongue over Louis bottom lip. Their mouths opened with ease as the kiss was deepened, Louis ran his hands up Harry’s sides, slowly pushing up the fabric of Harry’s black shirt. Their lips detached long enough for Louis to rid Harry of the article of clothing before crashing their mouths back together. 

Louis’ hands roamed the plains of Harry’s chest, rubbing his fingers over Harry’s nipples and earning a moan from the boy under him. Harry was fighting to get Louis’ shirt over his head while the older lad rocked their hips together in a sinful rhythm. Once Louis’ borrowed shirt was flung to the floor, his lips attached themselves to Harry’s neck, marking the boy’s milky skin like he had the night before. Harry hips bucked up into his, seeking friction as Louis kisses travelled downwards. 

Louis lips ran down Harry’s breastbone, sucking a new love bite into the previously untarnished skin. Louis closed his mouth over Harry’s left nipple and traced his shape with his tongue while his hand rubbed his other between his fingers, causing Harry to throw his head back against the arm of the sofa.

Louis could feel Harry’s growing erection against the side of his stomach as he pulled himself further down, scraping his teeth along the sensitive skin of Harry’s abdomen. Louis teased the waist band of Harry’s sweat pants making the younger boy whine and arch his pelvis into Louis touch. The older boy licked a stripe up to Harry‘s belly button and looked up under his eyelashes to see Harry’s head thrown back in pleasure. Smirking at the boy unwinding under him, he finally hooked his fingers through the band of Harry’s pants, pulling them off in one swift movement. 

Harry’s freed erection slapped against his stomach, already leaking precome. Harry raised his head off the couch, his gaze meeting Louis’ as the younger of the two bit his lip. His green irises were hardly visible around his lust blown pupils. Louis leant back down and kissed the inside of Harry’s thigh, keeping eye contact, and watched as the boy released a delicious whimper. Louis then leaned up so his mouth was directly over Harry’s leaking tip.

“Lou–“ Harry’s words were drowned out by a moan as Louis took Harry’s head into his mouth. Louis’ tongue swirled around the tip and licked at his slit, all the while keeping his eyes on Harry. Louis wrapped his hand around the base of Harry’s cock and pumped up and down to the speed of his mouth working Harry’s length. Using the rapid string of curse words as encouragement, Louis took the other boy further into his mouth and sucked hard. 

A loud moan fell from Harry’s lips and his hands tangled their way into Louis’ hair and tugging roughly. The older boy hummed around Harry’s cock sending a new wave of pleasure though him as he held back the urge up buck into Louis’ mouth. Hollowing his cheeks out, Louis continued to lick up Harry’s dick, sucking extra hard on the tip before bobbing back down. It wasn’t long before Harry’s moans turned into whimpers and his hands were pulling desperately at Louis’ hair.

“Lou– Move. I’m g-gon, ah, stop, Lou. Louis!” Harry pulled harder on Louis’ hair, trying to yank him away. Louis ignored Harry and sucked harder, his cheeks hollowed even further, the soft inside of his mouth touched as much of the sensitive skin of Harry’s dick as possible . His tongue flicking out over Harry slit one more time before the younger boy was coming in his mouth while moaning Louis name. Louis swallowed the bitter liquid, letting Harry ride out his orgasm. Whipping his mouth on the back of his hand, Louis crawled back up Harry’s body while the younger lad came down from his high. Taking in deep breaths of air Harry turned to look at Louis who was now cuddling into his side,  
“Hi.” Harry smiled a little breathlessly.

“Hi.” Louis said back before kissing Harry on the cheek.

“Want me to return the favour?” Harry asked, but before Louis could answer, his large fingers were slipping past the waist band of Louis’ sweats and taking the older boy’s aching cock in his hand. Louis was so turned on by the small moans and whimpers Harry was letting slip past his lips, it didn’t take much of Harry’s skilled pumps before Louis was nearing climax. It was with one last flick of Harry’s wrist that Louis was coming over Harry’s hand and both their stomachs. 

Both boys felt as if their limbs were jelly, not wanting to move from their perfect stop on the couch but the thought of Harry’s dad coming home to see his son not only lying naked with another boy but also covered in come was not an appealing one. 

“Shower?” Louis asked into the side of Harry neck before kissing the tender skin. 

“Only if we can do that again.”, Harry smiled looking down at the smaller boy, who met his eyes with a challenging gleam.

“Deal.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is really short and really pathetic but I wanted to get something out for you guys. Thank you for being so patient! I think two more chapters and maybe and epilogue (?) and I’ll be done :) I’ve got a few one shot type things I’d like to post so I’m going to get those out of the way before beginning a new chaptered fic.

“How did the hipster burn his tongue?” Niall’s far too awake voice sounded through the receiver of Harry’s phone.

“What?” Harry replied around a mouthful of cereal. 

“How did the hipster burn his tongue?” The Irish lad repeated a little slower but still way too loudly for a Monday morning. Glancing at his watch and figuring he has some time to spare before beginning his treacherous walk to school, Harry answered,

“I don’t know, Niall. How did the hipster burn is tongue?” 

“Because he drank the coFFEE BEFORE IT WAS COOL!” Harry had to move the phone away from his ear as his friend began screaming into the speaker. Taking another scoop of now soggy cereal onto his spoon and giving Niall a chance to calm down from laughing at his own joke, Harry finished his breakfast. 

“Wow, Niall.” He said after a moment, more amused at Niall’s effort than the joke. “How long did it take you to come up with that one?” 

“Alllllllll weekend.” He announced proudly and Harry could hear the smile in his voice. “Speaking of the weekend, what did you get up to? ‘Cause I was going to hang out with Li and Mr. Crankypants but they ditched me so, tried calling both you and Louis but neither of you picked up.”

Harry almost choked on milk as his face heated and his brain stuttered. What did he do? More like who did he do. There was no PG way to explain to Niall that for a whole of two days the only thing that even entered his mind has something to do with Louis and the perfect shape of his butt. No, he couldn’t tell Niall that they’d given each other hand jobs and how Louis had gone down on him and it was probably the best experience of his whole entire life! Nor could Harry tell him Louis had taught him how to return the favour and leave his boyfriend in a stuttering mess. His boyfriend. HIS BOYFRIEND! The thought of Louis being his boyfriend still made him giddy and smile stupidly. So, no. There was no way that Harry could possibly explaining what he’d done on the weekend without making it erotically explicit or breaking down into tears because it was so perfect. 

“I’ll uh – tell you later. I’ve got to go now. Bye!” Harry hung up without waiting for a reply.

~*~

The only thing Harry hated more than having an hour long Math class is having an hour long Math class first thing on a Monday morning. He’d groaned and whined as Zayn dragged him towards the dreaded room 126. To make it worse, Harry hadn’t seen Louis yet, after the bot sent him a quick text explaining that he was running late and would miss first period. 

It’d only been a day since Harry had seen the blue eyed boy but he was already having withdrawals from those soft lips that brushed over his and slid down his neck and sucked bruises into his chest and wrapped around his–

A hand on Harry’s forehead took his attention from his not so innocent thoughts and toward Zayn who had his tan palm resting on the boy’s face. 

“Dude, are you feeling alright?” Zayn asked concerned, moving his hand down to Harry’s cheek. 

“Yeah? Why?” Harry looked down to the desk, embarrassed to be caught in his musings.

“Your face is all pink and your eyes look really glassy, are you sure you’re okay?” So apparently, Harry was worse at hiding his emotions than he thought. Feeling another flush spread up his neck, Harry quickly took Zayn’s hand and removed it from his face. 

“I’m fine, I promise. Just had a big weekend, that’s all.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Zayn’s eyes narrowed as he inspected Harry’s face further.

“Am I interrupting your conversation, gentlemen?” Mrs Jameson, the ancient math teacher, asked from the front of the room, both Harry and Zayn’s heads snapping to face the old woman. 

“No-”

“Harry was just telling me how ill he’s feeling.” Zayn announced loudly, cutting off Harry’s protest. Harry groaned and sunk lower in his chair as everyone swivelled in their seats to look at him. “I think he should go to the nurse. It looks like he’s going to be sick all over the desk.” Zayn continued matter-of-factly and Mrs Jameson’s brow furrowed in concern.

“You do look a little poorly, dear.” She observed and Harry kicked his friend under the desk. “Zayn,” she addressed the boy rubbing his shin, “you wouldn’t mind taking him would you? I wouldn’t want him to faint or anything on his way there.” 

For a second, the tan teenager seemed to consider it before he was nodding and scraping his chair back against the floor. He rose to his feet and begun packing up Harry’s things for him, along with his own. Harry watched in amused shock as Zayn slipped one of his arms around both of their books and pencil cases before using the other to help Harry stand. 

Slipping his arm around the confused boy’s waist, Zayn leaned in close to whisper in Harry’s ear, “Now, sell it.” 

Realisation crashed over Harry, not taking the time to think before he was looping his arm around Zayn’s shoulders and dragging his feet as the other boy lead them to the front to the classroom. Mrs Jameson handed Zayn a blue slip of paper and muttered something of a ‘get well soon’ to Harry before Zayn all but dragged his friend out the door. 

Once it was shut firmly behind them, Zayn passed Harry his things with a simple “Here.” 

Harry watched with wide green eyes as the other boy started walking down the hall. “What are you doing?” Zayn turn and begun walking backwards to look at his stunned friend,

“It doesn’t matter.” He smirked, “I just got you out of class; go enjoy your new found freedom.” And with that he was gone. 

Harry went back to his locker and placed his books inside. He then checked his phone for any new texts, the only message being from his phone company. Harry then decided to have a little wonder around the school grounds; the school halls were strangely eerie without the loud bustle of students. 

Harry was sitting under an oak tree picking at the grass when he heard a muffled squeal. Looking in the direction of the sound, Harry half expected to see a teacher, but instead was met with the sight of Louis running towards him. A wide smile spread across his face as he pushed himself up from the ground. Louis all but barrelled the boy over, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and pulling his face close to his own. 

“Good morning.” Harry chuckled, his own hands coming to slide around Louis’ waist.

“Hi.” The caramel skin boy smiled a little breathlessly, leaning in the rest of the way to connect their lips. Harry’s eyes fluttered closed as he got caught up in everything that was Louis, completely forgetting the school around him. Their kiss was slow, a mere wet sliding of lips. Harry had managed to ease open Louis’ mouth and sensually slid his tongue across the other boys’, when Louis abruptly pulled back,

“Wait, no.” Harry opened his eyes to see Louis face scrunched up in disgust. “Ew!” The other boy exclaimed before pulling away from Harry completely and running his hands though his silky brown hair. “Ew ew ew ew ew!” 

Harry felt his face drop, and his heart constrict at the pure sound of repulsion in the other boy’s voice. Was it really that horrible to kiss him? Louis didn’t seem to mind so much a few days ago. There had to be a reason for Louis to be acting this way.

“I – I’m sorry.” Harry tried, taking step away from the cringing boy. 

“Huh?” Louis stopped flicking his hands around like a lunatic to look at Harry. The green eyed boy didn’t answer, afraid the tightening in his throat wouldn’t allow his voice to come out. The confusion on Louis’ face quickly turned to realisation then to guilt. With his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, Louis rushed over to Harry, taking the boy’s face in his hands. 

“No, no. Harry, hey. I wasn’t talking about you. Baby, look at me.” Louis eased Harry’s chin up but the pale boy refused to look at him. “It’s what I was running over here to tell you,” He explained as Harry stared at the grass. “But you’re standing here so cute and sexy and I just had to kiss you then I remembered how I had to tell you what I saw.” Harry still didn’t look at him although Louis could see the half smile playing on his lips. 

“What did you see?” Harry murmured a second later.

“Well, I when I got to school I really needed to pee so, obviously, I went to the bathroom. But, it turns out I walked in on a make out session and it was so disgusting.” Harry looked up to see Louis made a face at the memory, and his smile widened. 

“What’s so disgusting about two people kissing?” Harry asked with his eyebrow raised, completely forgetting his previous worries.   
“It was Zayn and Liam.”

“What?” 

“Kissing. It was Zayn and Liam.” Harry felt his eyes bulge as he forced down laughter. He didn’t know what was funnier; Louis’ reaction or the fact Zayn had gotten them both out of class so he could hook up with Liam in the bathroom. 

“It’s not funny! It’s gross. It’s like watching your parents kiss.” Louis swatted Harry’s arm when the curly haired boy finally let a bark of laughter leave his lips. “I didn’t even know they were dating, did you know they were dating? I never would have picked it. Harry stop laughing, I’m serious!” 

“Okay, okay. Just lower your voice before someone hears you.” Harry whispered, rubbing his arm. 

“But Harry –” Louis objected only to be silenced by Harry’s lips pressing onto his.

“We’ll talk to them about it later. Now, shut up and kiss me.” 

~*~ 

“Six months?!” Niall yelled. “You’ve been dating for six fucking months and you didn’t tell us?!” The boys were sitting at their usual lunch table in the busy cafeteria. Zayn and Liam on one side, looking both ashamed and smug at the same time, Harry and Louis on the other with Niall half crawling across the table to scream into the brow eyed boy’s faces. 

“Glad to see you’re taking it so well, Niall.” Liam smirked, looking up from under his eyelashes making the rest of the boys, bar Niall, laugh. 

“And you!” Niall turned to accuse Harry and Louis. “You’re together now?!” Harry all but choked on his apple juice at the sudden allegation, Louis’ hand instantly coming up to pat his back soothingly. Zayn and Liam looked up from their laps towards the boys across from them, the raven haired boy having a knowing smile lighting his lips.

“You told him?” Harry gasped between coughs. 

“Have you ever tried saying no to him?” Louis answered with a question, pointing at Niall. “Just look at that face.” Niall tried his best puppy dog eyes that had the whole table laughing. Once the Irish boy has back in his seat and shovelling a handful of crisps into his mouth, Harry spoke up,

“Six months, aye?” He looked between Liam and Zayn who both flushed bright pink. 

“Yeah.” Zayn smiled looking over to the boy next to him who returned the loving gesture. “It was actually our six month anniversary on Sunday, so I took Liam out for dinner.” Louis cooed and Harry smiled like proud mother while Niall pulled a face,

“You’re gonna make me sick.” He mumbled, scrunching up his nose.

“What, you don’t want a kiss, little Nialler?” Liam asked sarcastically, puckering up his lips.

“Nah, I be right, mate.” Niall snorted. 

“Come on, just one.” Zayn joined in, pouting his own lips. The Irish lad shook his head fervently, not seeing both boys get up from where they were sitting to stand on either side of him. It was only when he stopped shaking his head; he felt two wet and sloppy kisses placed on each cheek.

“YUCK!” He screamed, rubbing his face. 

“I think he wants another one.” Liam said thoughtfully to Zayn who nodded in agreement.

“No!” And with that last screech, Niall was running across the cafeteria with Zayn and Liam hot on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my tumblr; http://mymalikshakee.tumblr.com/  
> message me if you want to know anything about the characters or need anything to be cleared up or so you can yell at me to update :) Thanks for reading. x


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way too much fun writing this. Someone please take my laptop away.

Having caught up on lost time and practicing extra hard, Louis and Harry had managed to become pretty fluid in their drama performance. They had just finished polishing off their ending scene and were currently having a play wrestling match on the floor due to one to many provocative comments from Louis. Harry’s black eye had mostly dissipated, the swelling had gone down and the bruising had started to heal, now only light purple shading on his eyelid. Despite the fact it was almost completely mended, Louis still felt the need to be extra careful with his boyfriend, making sure the only bruises left on him were the ones created by his mouth. 

It was the last lesson of the day on a Friday, so one noticed or cared about the boys rolling around on top of each other. Harry had him pinned on the ground with Louis’ hands trapped above his head, both of his wrists fitting into one of Harry’s large palms, while the other insanely long-fingered hand tickled just above his ribs. Squeals and giggles ripped themselves from Louis’ mouth without his permission and his stomach muscles began to ache with the force of his laughter. 

Harry attention was stolen from his boyfriend’s wiggling form when Sarah – Miss Winters – burst through the door holding a stack of paper, a few falling to the floor in her haste.  
“Oi Harry! I’ll have none of that in my classroom, wait until you get home. Geez.” She winked at the curly haired lad who instantly turned a brilliant shade of pink. Harry lifted himself off Louis’ hips and sat to the side while Louis continued to lay on the ground laughing. 

“Shut up.” He mumbled under his breath, punching the tanned boy in the arm once he was finally in a sitting position.

“Ow!” Louis whined rubbing his bicep, clearly Harry didn’t have the same fear of breaking his boyfriend like Louis did. 

“Alright ladies!” Sarah yelled over her students, most of the boys protesting at being called a woman, to which she just rolled her eyes. “Look what I’ve got.” She continued in a sing-song voice, holding up one of the pieces of paper. As far as Louis could see, it had an itinerary table printed on it but Sarah’s waving hand made it difficult to tell for sure. 

“What is it?” Hannah spoke up, looking over her shoulder. 

“This, my dear Hannah, is your performance schedule.” She said as if she was presenting the world with the Holy Grail. Almost the whole class ran up to her, snatching pieces of paper off each other and screaming the times across the room to their group. Louis found it quite entertaining to watch his classmates go from kind of sophisticated teenagers to needy five year olds in seconds. It was only when a piece of paper was getting shoved in his own face that Louis’ thoughts cut sort. 

“You read it. I can’t.” Harry begged, chewing nervously on his nails. Pulling the paper back from his face so he could read it, Louis’ blue eyes scanned over the table.

“Alright,” He cleared his throat, “It seems that we’ll be performing second on Monday after Paige, Bonnie and Max.” Louis looked up to see wide green eyes inches from his face.

“Monday.” The curly haired boy whispered, almost comically and Louis would have laughed if it weren’t for the pure terror written over Harry’s face. 

~*~

“I can’t do this, Louis. I know I said I didn’t care anymore, but this is too much.” His boyfriend paced up and down his room, Louis sitting cross legged on his bed and watching him worriedly. The house was empty as the girls were at Ballet practice and his mum was at work, leaving them to make as much noise as they wanted. Harry took advantage of their situation by screaming into Louis’ pillow more than a few times.

“It’s just a performance.” Louis tried to reason, sliding off the bed and catching Harry’s hand in his, stopping the other boy mid stride. “And, just think, everyone else will have to do just as embarrassing topics.” 

Harry’s head snapped up to look Louis in the eyes. “I’m not embarrassed of you.” He said surely, leaving no room for argument, not that Louis was planning to put up a fight anyway. Louis’ features softened as he looked into the frantic green depths of Harry’s eyes. 

“I know, Haz.” Louis smiled, leaning up on his toes to place a kiss to his boyfriend’s nervous nibbled lips. “But I also know that this is a really big deal for you. You just need to know that I love you and however bad you feel, I can promise I can make you feel better.” The tanned boy drawled, biting his lip and letting his eyes flicker down to his boyfriend’s crotch suggestively. The tension in Harry’s shoulders visibly loosened as a smirk lit his lips.

“Are you bribing me with sexual favours?” His green eyes were shining with amusement, Louis looking up at him as innocently as he could. 

“Well, when you put it that way…” He didn’t bother finishing his sentence before he was crashing their lips together in a heated kiss. It didn’t take long for Louis to push his hands up under the hem of Harry’s shirt, feeling the tight muscles underneath. Ridding the tall boy of the constricting material, Louis took no shame in checking his boyfriend out. His eyes started at Harry’s bare feet, then over his loose fitting school pants up to where they were held up by thin hips and over the milky skin of his stomach and chest. When Louis’ gaze finally met Harry’s, he was met with such intense and lust blown green eyes. 

“I love you, Louis.” The sudden confession took Louis by surprise. He knew he shouldn’t be so affected by the simple sentence, but he was. His knees buckled and a swarm of butterflies set loose around his stomach, tears prickled in his eyes as he looked back and forth between sincere emerald depths. 

“I love you too.” He whispered, afraid his voice would crack if he spoke any louder. Strong arms looped themselves around his waist and he was being lifted from the ground. Harry held him at eye level, Louis’ small toes resting on his boyfriend’s larger feet. One of Louis’ hands gripped around the back of Harry’s neck while the other braced himself on the other boy’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a little while, with Harry supporting Louis weight and looking lovingly into his watery eyes. With an astonishing wave of emotion, Louis fond his eyelids fluttering shut as he gently pulled the other boy’s mouth in to meet his. 

The kiss wasn’t like others they’d had before; there was no urgency or force behind it. There was only love and growing need for the person wrapped tightly in each other’s arms. Placing Louis back on his feet but keeping their mouths sealed, Harry walked Louis back towards the bed  
.  
His large hands slide up Louis’ sides, taking the material of his shirt with him. With the article of clothing joining Harry’s on the floor, Louis let himself be lowered down onto the mattress as Harry’s lips fixed themselves to his neck. Louis’ hands balanced on his boyfriend’s thin hips, his nails digging small crescent moon shapes into the soft skin as Harry bit down over his collar bone. 

Harry’s arms were placed on either side of Louis’ head, keeping the majority of his weight off the smaller boy, while he slotted himself in between Louis’ legs. The tanned boy ran his fingers up Harry hips and across his ribs, the skin smooth and warm under his fingertips as their lips reattached. Louis’ mouth opened without thought, letting his boyfriend’s tongue slide across his own. 

With only underwear and their school trousers separating them, it didn’t take long until Louis could feel Harry pressing into him. Not being able to help himself, Louis smirked into the kiss.

“Hard for me already?” He mumbled against kiss bruised lips. He felt Harry smile and opened his eyes to see him staring right back at him.

“Can’t help it,” Harry whispered back, “You’re just so beautiful.” The boy ground his hips down into Louis’; cutting off any response he could have thought up with a surprised gasp. Smiling smugly at the bulge growing in Louis’ own pants, he added, “Hard for me already, Lou?” and again before Louis could reply with a witty comment, Harry was pushing his crotch back into his, this time his voice being replaced by a moan. 

“Too–” Gasp. “Many–” Hitched breath. “Clothes.” Louis eventually got out after Harry had set up a pretty steady rhythm of rolling his hips into Louis’ and sucking on his bottom lip. Harry made a sound of agreement and lifted himself up enough for Louis to get his hands between them and start to undo his belt. 

The black leather gave way easily and Louis was able to hook his thumbs into both Harry’s trousers and underwear and pulled them down as far as he could reach, which was about half way down his thigh, before Harry had to lean back in order to kick them the rest of the way off. Turning back, Harry then began working on Louis’ own pants, undoing the button slowly and pulling down the zipper. Louis arched his hips up in order for Harry to get the material over his bum and off his legs, Louis feet falling on either side of his boyfriend’s knees. 

Harry’s head shifted down where he placed a light kiss just under Louis’ belly button, Louis lifted himself up onto his elbows, watching intently as he continue to travel downwards. His puffy lips pressed and open mouthed kiss to the underside of Louis’ shaft, making the boy under him flop back down onto the pillows. Harry’s tongue dragged up to the tip of Louis cock where he made a face, close to disgust, he’d only given Louis a blowjob once before and was still getting used to the taste of the hot flesh in his mouth.  
Feeling strangely confident, Harry took Louis further into his mouth and making the older boy moan shamelessly. Harry felt the boy wriggle and stretch under him, as he lowered even further, his throat muscles working to stop his gag reflex. 

“Haz, wait. Wait.” Louis pulled his head up, his mouth leaving the boy’s cock with an absurd pop. Panic struck Harry as his boyfriend pulled him further away from his saliva slick erection.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked quickly, searching Louis’ face for any sign of pain. He was pretty sure he kept his teeth out of the way but, he couldn’t be positive. He was now looking down on Louis’ face again where the other boy smiled and pulled Harry into a kiss.

“No baby, you were doing perfectly.” Louis reassured him, running a hand though his messy curls. “I just didn’t want to come yet.” Harry pulled away fully to look over Louis’ face in confusion. 

“What? Why?” He asked perplexed, in his experience blowjobs were the greatest thing in the whole world, why the hell would Louis not want release in the best way possible?

“I just thought…” He turned bright pink as he let his sentence die on his lips and instead handed a small sachet to Harry. Leaning to the side, to take some of his weight of Louis so he wouldn’t crush him, Harry turned the small packet over in his hand. With Harry’s lust clouded mind, it took him a few seconds to realise what it was.

“Whoa. Lou, are you serious.” Harry took his eyes from the condom and back up to where Louis nodded shyly. 

They hadn’t done this yet. Louis had showed him how to give a blowjob and even taught him what rimming was but they hadn’t yet had proper sex. And, in all honesty, Harry was a little scared. But, this was Louis, his best friend, his boyfriend, the boy who said he loved him, and with that small piece of knowledge, Harry felt his fears get washed away.  
“I – I don’t…” Harry wasn’t sure if the condom was meant for him or if it was just Louis showing him what he had in mind.

“I need you.” Louis supplied for him, reaching up to cradle Harry’s face in his small hands and pulling him in for a kiss. “Do you know what to do?” Louis asked, taking one of Harry’s hands in his and sliding it down to his own hip to show Harry what he meant. 

“Yeah. Uh yeah. I um did some research?” It was now Harry’s turn to be embarrassed but Louis was looking at him so fondly, as if flatted that Harry would even go to the trouble to educate himself. 

“Then, I trust you know what to do with this?” Louis reached up for a white bottle that was sitting on his nightstand and passed it to Harry. His green eyes scanned over the bottle of lubricant and he popped the cap, looking at Louis for conformation before squirting a blob of clear liquid onto his fingers. Kissing the boy lightly on the lips, Harry let his hand drift downwards past Louis’ neglected cock and towards his puckered hole. 

“We’re really going to do this?” Harry asked, resting his slick index finger on the other boy’s entrance but not breaching the hole. 

“Yeah.” Louis smiled up at him and it was enough for Harry to push his finger in, down to the first knuckle. Giving Louis a few seconds to adjust to the intrusion, Harry slowly moved his finger down until it was completely swallowed up by Louis. Gently, He began to move his finger in and out in shallow thrusts. Louis’ hands gripped to his biceps and he started to make grunts and whines as Harry’s long finger fell short of his prostate. 

Slicking up a second finger, Harry added it in with the first, distracting Louis from the slight sting he was sure he was feeling, with a sloppy kiss. Harry scissored his fingers, slowly opening the boy up when his nail scrapped along the bundle of nerves and making Louis scream, and in that moment, Harry was immensely glad to have the house to themselves. Aiming for the same angle, Harry continued to hit the same spot, Louis swearing and moaning relentlessly. 

He’d just managed fit a third finger in, causing Louis’ back arching off the bed, and Harry had to try hard not to come right then, looking down on his beautiful boyfriend. Removing his fingers from Louis and earing himself a grunt of disapproval, Harry made quick work of slipping the condom on his own aching cock and giving it a liberal coating of lube before positioning himself at Louis entrance. 

The boy looked absolutely worn out already, with flushed pink cheeks and dark hooded eyes. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered as he pushed all the way in. The tightness of Louis combined with the obscene sounds falling from his lips, Harry’s brain stuttered as his body forced him to move. 

He started with a slow rhythmic pace and speeding up to almost frantic. One of his hands stroking Louis’ erection in time with his thrusts, as he opened his clenched eyes to see Louis’ face below him, blissed out in complete pleasure and Harry felt himself fall a little more in love with him. 

Louis’ own eyes fluttered open to catch Harry’s gaze. His lips formed a loose smile and his and came up to cup Harry’s cheek as the boy thrusts slowed back down to something more meaningful that just finding a release, it was their final way for connecting. Louis pushed himself up to brush his lips against Harry’s, the two boys painting into each other’s mouths. Blue still locked with green and Harry found himself saying in a voice so low and gravely he hardly recognised it as his own,

“I love you.” Louis gave a choked scream as he suddenly lost control, painting while streaks up his and Harry’s stomach. His muscles tightened around Harry’s throbbing cock, making the boy follow him over the edge a few moments after. Both boys rode out their orgasms and Harry’s thrusts became sloppy before he pulled out completely. He rolled off the condom and fell to the side of his boyfriend, totally wrecked. 

They lay there, getting their breath back and coming down from their highs when a hollow banging of a slamming door followed by screams of little girls filled the house. 

“Oh shit.” Louis cursed, looking at both his and his boyfriend’s less than presentable current situation. Rolling off the bed and onto jelly legs, the tanned boy picked up a dirty shirt from the floor of his bedroom and started to wipe himself down before turning to Harry and doing the same. The boys helped each other get dress quickly, tossing underwear and track pants around the room. 

Harry was straightening out the bed and Louis had just got a band t-shirt, which Harry was pretty sure belonged to him, over his head when a knock came at the door. Without waiting for a reply, Jay was entering the room with a large smile on her face.

“Hello boys!” She said cheerfully, walking in and kissing Louis on the forehead. “Oh, my, Louis! You’re all sweaty.” She laughed whipping her mouth.

“Uh yeah – Harry and I were just having a… push up competition.” Louis lied lamely. Harry snorted without meaning to, earning both Louis and Jay’s attention. 

“I wouldn’t call it a competition,” He supplied without really thinking. “I did all the work, Louis just laid there.” Louis caught onto the innuendo immediately, putting on mock shock while Jay just looked confused. She brushed it off a second later by clapping her hands together,

“I ordered pizza for dinner and it should be here soon, you’re free to stay if you like, Harry.” The boy in question nodded his thanks and she walked out the room, shutting the door behind her. Harry walked up behind Louis, wrapping his arms around the boy’s waist and resting his chin on his shoulder. Louis craned his neck to look at him, his eyebrows raised,

“You did all the work, aye?” He smirked as Harry let out a low snicker. “Lucky for you, my ego is not easily bruised.” Harry placed a kiss on Louis’ cheek before he unwrapped his arms from around his boyfriend and spun him so they were chest to chest. 

“Very lucky me.” He beamed, kissing Louis’ nose. 

“I love you, Harry.” He said earnestly and making Harry smile the most brilliant smile Louis’ ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MADE A WRITING BLOG YAY! : quirky-stylinson.tumblr.com  
> message me if you want to know anything about the characters or need anything to be cleared up or so you can yell at me to update :) Thanks for reading. x


	13. Chapter 13

Harry lay awake in his bed as he waited for his alarm to sound, officially confirming that the day was to begin. The sun hardly made its way over the treetops and into his bedroom, lighting everything in a pale grey, a cold still passing over the room. Today was the day. The day of judgment. The day that hours of practice has gone towards. The day of their drama performance. 

Harry’s alarm began to beep and buzz form the bedside table and a distressed groan ripped itself from his throat as he rolled over to receive his phone. The bright screen lit up his face, a picture of Harry kissing the side of Louis’ smiling face staring back at him as he tried to gain the courage to get out of bed. _I can to this._

He hauled himself up so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, the cool temperature of the room prickling at his skin. _I can’t do this._

Running a tired hand through is mess of hair, Harry sunk back down into the bed. Maybe he could call in sick, apologize to Louis and offer to do it another day and then never ever perform ever. Maybe. _No! No. I can do this._

Harry jumped to his feet, steeping away from his bed before it could lure him back in with its soft pillows and promises of warmth. He stood in front of his mirror for a while, long enough that the sunlight could finally bust through the trees and send warm streaks of light through the window. Harry’s hair was messy and his eyes were sunken, a small bruise on his neck was fading into a light purple smudge, left there by Louis, and his swollen eye had all but gone back to normal. Today was going to be fine, he knew it was, but that didn’t stop the little niggling in the back of his brain that told him everything that he was going was wrong.

Harry wasn’t ashamed, not of Louis’ anyway. How could anyone be? How could you be ashamed of such a lovely and bubbly and funny and beautiful and caring and considerate and affectionate and all around fantastic human being? You can’t. So, that wasn’t the problem at all. Harry would go to the ends of the earth for that boy, and a small drama skit in front of a few students and teachers was hardly any death defying acts Harry was willing to do for Louis, so… what was he worried about? 

Maybe the judgment, the ridicule, the chance that he may forget his lines and disappoint Louis, the risk of putting his heart and soul into something a only being rewarded with a barely passing grade, the chance of failing all together and dragging Louis down with him. It was just a lot to think about and it’s all Harry has been thinking about. From the moment that they got their performance schedule and all of this became real, a real performance, a real relationship with his best friend, a real chance for him to come out in front of his entire drama class. 

Harry tore his eyes away from where they were examining his reflection, opting to hop into a hot shower and hopefully wash away some, if not all, of his doubtful thoughts about today. _Today is going to be a good day_ he told himself as he stepped under the steaming spray of water, _its going to be great._

~*~

Once Harry had showered and slowly gotten himself dressed, putting off the reality of school for as long as he could. He trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen where his father was pouring some milk into a bowl of cereal. The man looked up as his son entered, not bringing attention to Harry’s tired and worn appearance, and Harry was rather thankful. 

“Want a bowl?” He asked, and Harry nodded, trying his best to smile. He didn’t have the energy to deal with his moral dilemma and also fight with his dad. Harry parked himself at the breakfast bench, accepting the bowl of cereal with a quiet thanks and a nod of his head. There was too much milk, but Harry ignored it as he slurped back spoonfuls of his soggy breakfast. He knew his dad was trying, and it was about time that he started trying too. 

“You have your drama thing today, don’t you?” His dad asked, looking up from his morning paper to address his son. Harry nodded but didn’t say anything, surprised that his dad had even remembered, only having mentioned the performance in passing and not really going into depth. Mainly as an explanation as to why Louis was always at the house, or why Harry was skipping out the door to meet him. “What was it about, again?” 

Harry tried not to choke in his cereal as he mulled over his answer. There wasn’t really much damage in telling his father, might even come out while he’s at it. After all, Harry was trying and even if his father did reject him it would give Harry a real reason to hate him. So, without giving himself a chance to have second thoughts, Harry swallowed his mouthful and said,

“Homosexuality.” Loud and short and simple. Harry watched fro his father’s reaction, watching as his hand stilled from where he was bringing his mug of coffee to his mouth, the rim resting on his lip as his eyebrows raised in something caught between surprise and thoughtfulness. There was a beat of silence and his dad took a small sip from his cup,

“Cool.” He said, placing down his mug and returning his gaze back to his newspaper, his brow leveling back out into a neutral line.

“Cool?” Harry repeated, unable to fully grasp the concept of his father taking to the idea so easily, “Its ‘cool’ that your son is doing a drama performance about being gay in front the whole class with a boy I met a few months ago?”

“Why? Do you not want to do it?” His father looked back up at him, his eyes earnest and his tone gentle,

“What? No. That’s not it. I want to do this. I want to do this for Louis.” Harry was no longer sure if he was taking to his father or himself. His dad nodded once, a small smile playing on his lips,

“Then, cool.” He repeated.

“Cool.” Harry agreed. 

~*~

When he walked into the school gated, Harry felt faint. His fingers buzzes with energy and knees felt like jelly as he passed numerous classrooms and students, everyone oblivious to the potential heart attack Harry was trying to fight down as he uneasily made his way to his first class. Both fortunately and unfortunate, Drama was his last class of the day, giving him all day to prepare himself for his sure public embarrassment, but he also had all day to worry about said embarrassment. 

Louis had shot Harry a text explaining that he was going to be running a little because he had to drop his sisters off at school, which made his heart sink instantly. Without Louis as a distraction, Harry mind was sure to wander down a path he really didn’t want it to. One with thorns, cracked pavement, and dark foreboding storm clouds that threatened to dunk the entirety of the Atlantic Ocean on his head. The sound of the bell ringing snapped Harry out of his thoughts. 

Zayn dropped down into the seat next to his with an easy smile as he spread his books out over the desk in front of him. Despite the comforting presence of Zayn, Harry still tried not to jump when the teacher began talking, starting off the class with a loud and enthusiastic “Good morning, everyone!” Today was going to be shit. 

Louis found Harry in the bathroom somewhere between third and forth period, skipping into the tiled room with a bright smile and cheeky sway of his hips. Harry was washing his hands for the fifth consecutive minute in a row; his hands were so clean he could probably be able to perform open-heart surgery. 

“Hello, my love.” Louis grinned, floating over to Harry and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek before heading over to one of the toilet stalls. Harry turned off the tap, unable to suppress the smile caused by the still-tingling sensation left on his skin from Louis’ lips. He dried his hands on some paper towel and lent back against one of the sinks, inspecting his nails as he waited for Louis to finish. 

“Hey, Lou,” Harry started, trying to calm his new wave of nerves as the realization that the end of the day was drawing closer washed over him. He heard Louis hum in recognition just before the sound of the toilet flushing filled his ears. Louis reemerged, bumping Harry out of the way with his hip as he moved to wash his hand, he motion making Harry smile fondly as he stumbled a few steps to the side. When Louis finally turned to face him, his mouth was stretched out in a full-blown grin that he couldn’t have hid if he tired. Louis returned the smile, and Harry couldn’t help it, he had to say it,

“I love you.” The amount of sincerity in his voice surprised even himself as Louis smile turned warm and private, crossing the small space between them and leaning up on his tippy-toes to rub their noses together,

“And I love you, Curly.” Harry let his eyes flutter shut as the sound of Louis’ voice, their foreheads pressed together, their noses brushing, his hands holding Louis’ waist to keep his balance as his words burning themselves into his brain, his heart and his bones. 

Louis stretched higher and touched his lips to Harry’s, simple and sweet and Harry found himself craving more, wrapping his arm around Louis’ waist and pulling him closer when he went to move away. Louis didn’t fight it, treading his fingers onto Harry’s hair and drawing him closer, his mouth melding to Harry’s in practiced ease. Their tongues slid together and Harry felt all of his previous concerns melt away. This, snogging his boyfriend in the bathroom, was all that mattered and Louis was going to be all that mattered and Harry was going to do anything in his power to keep this boy by his side for the rest of his life. If that meant embarrassing himself in front of a bunch of people he wasn’t going to see again in a few years, so be it. 

Harry finally released his grip on Louis after what felt like an eternity, letting the boy step back and regain some personal space. Louis’ cheeks were tinted pink and his smile was dazed as he swayed on the spot, Harry having to reach out to stop him from tripping over, both giggling sickeningly. They smiled at each other for a while, enveloped in a silence that spoke volumes, both flinching as the bell sounded. 

“You ready to get an A?” Louis asked waggling his eyebrows, his lips still puffy and red.

“Make that an A+ and you’ve got yourself a deal,” Harry winked, picking both his and Louis’ bags off the floor, giving Louis one last kiss before marching out the door. _This is it._

To say Harry was nervous to the point where he couldn’t form coherent sentences would be an understatement. And no matter how good his intentions were and how comfortable he was with expressing his love for Louis in both the performance and reality, he couldn’t stop the way his stomach squirmed, his butterflies having turned into pterodactyls. His knees shook and his fingers trembled as he ran them through his messy hair that was styled into something resembling a comb-over. Louis sat at the makeup table next to him, brushing some foundation onto his nose and looking completely in his element, totally unfazed. 

Harry could hear his heart beat thump in his ears and he almost definitely needed to pee. He swallowed thickly as he forced his voice to come out, if not a bit shakily, 

“Louis, I feel sick.” Harry gripped his stomach as Louis looked over at him with a concerned face and fond eyes,

“You’ll be fine, babe. Its just nerves.” Louis took Harry’s free hand and kissed his knuckles. 

“But, what if I die on stage?” Harry asked fearfully, gripping Louis’ hand to the point that it was probably painful. Louis rolled his eyes and got to his feet, placing a gentle hand on Harry’s chin and tilting it up, forcing him to meet his gaze. 

“You won’t die.” He said firmly and Harry nuzzled into the touch, kissing Louis’ palm. Their moment was broken, however, when Sarah popped her head through the door,

“You guys are on in 2 minutes!” She quipped, giving them a quick thumbs up before ducking back out the door and leaving Harry as a puddle on the floor. _Fuck._

Louis must have registered the panicked look on Harry’s face or heard his quickening of breath, because he was taking Harry’s face in his hands and Harry was looking deep into sapphire swirls. A smile graced his lips and Harry tried his best to match it, but he was pretty sure it looked more like a grimace. Louis kissed his stunned mouth once, twice, three times before he started leading him towards the stage, his jelly legs only just managing to carry him the mere few metres, continuously threatening to give out from under him,

“Are you ready?” Louis whispered excitedly into Harry’s ear, moving behind his boyfriend to place his hand assuredly on his back, the touch dispelling some of the tension in his shoulders,

“No.” Harry replied honestly,

“Just remember,” Over Louis’ voice, Harry could hear Sarah introducing their performance, a new wave of nausea crashing over him as he tried vainly to focus on what Louis was saying, “End with a bow.” 

And with that, Louis gave him a short shove, pushing Harry onto the stage where he was met with bright lights and blank faces. _This is it._

~*~

Harry couldn’t feel his face as the two boys bounded off the stage, Louis leaping into Harry’s arms the moment they landed on solid ground, both boys trying to suppress their excited squeals. They smashed it. They fucking _smashed_ it. All of their lines were executed flawlessly, and their motions were seamless, Harry completely forgetting that anyone was even watching as he got completely lost in everything that is Louis. 

Harry spun them around, picking Louis up and twirling him in the air. Louis threw his head back laughing and Harry’s mouth hurt from smiling so hard. When Harry finally put his boyfriend down, Sarah was walking up to them with a proud expression and an impressed smile. Her skirt billowed out and tickled Harry’s legs but he couldn’t bring himself to mind and she placed a petite hand on each of the boy’s shoulders, 

“That was fantastic. You should both be very proud of yourselves,” She praised and Louis placed his hand on top of hers, grinning his thanks, “I most definitely think you both deserve an A. Congratulations.” Harry squeaked with elation, pulling Louis back into a bone-crushing embrace. Louis nodded at Sarah over Harry’s shoulder, his hand snaking around Harry’s back and hugging back with as much fierceness, his face pressed into Harry’s neck and his lips brushing his skin. 

The boys watched the rest of the class’s performances, sitting much too close to each other, but no one pulled them up on it. They clapped and whistled before everyone started and after everyone finished, all acts being genuinely entertaining. Harry was still high in his adrenaline rush as he skipped out the school gate that afternoon, his arm linked with Louis’ and a smile plastered onto his face. It did falter, however, when he saw his father’s car parked in the school parking lot, and there, leaning on the hood, was the man himself, his arms crossed and his face neutral. Dropping his hand down to take Louis’ wrist, Harry led them over towards the car, his smile still resting lightly on his lips. His dad stood up straighter as he saw his son approach, his eyes flicking down to Harry and Louis’ hands before once again focusing on their faces, 

“Hey, Dad,” Harry grinned, jumping in front of his father and letting go of Louis long enough to wrap his arms around his father in a slightly awkward hug. His dad patted him on the back and Harry stepped back, his smile bigger than ever. Its been years since he’s hugged his dad and it could possibly be the last because Harry was pulling Louis back to his side and throwing an arm over his shoulders, 

“It’s about time you guys met properly, I think.” Louis looked nervous and his father looked skeptical but Harry pushed it aside and continued, “Louis, this is Des, my dad. Dad, this is Louis, my boyfriend.” 

Louis’ eyes bulged and his dad frowned, obviously both having been taken off guard. Harry smiled on, relishing in how good it felt to admit it, not missing the few people around them who were obviously eavesdropping, the fact that Harry and Louis were together was sure to be common knowledge by tomorrow. Harry didn’t really know what reaction he expected from his father, his brain wasn’t thinking very far ahead of this moment. But, the last thing he would have thought he would do is rub a tired hand over his face, breathe out a sigh, and hold a hand out to Louis,

“It’s nice to ‘properly meet you’, Louis.” Louis took his father’s hand had shook it gingerly. 

“And you, sir.” Harry beamed, watching his dad and Louis interact. It would be nice not having to keep sneaking around, after all Harry was so blessed to have Louis and he no longer wanted to have to hide that. They released hands and his dad shuffled from foot to foot,

“Well, I um… I best be going.” He said to the ground, a frown forming on Harry’s brow at the words,

“Going where?” He asked and his father looked even more uncomfortable. 

“Oh… I… Um, I have a date tonight… I guess.” 

“Oh my god! With who?!” Harry shrieked in complete disregard for the people around them, including Louis, the boy wincing away from his volume. 

“Y’know Carol? The lady at the grocery store? Yeah, I finally plucked up the courage to ask her out,” His dad looked sheepish and Harry bounced up and down on his heals. As much as it hurt when his parents got divorced, he was glad his dad was moving on, besides Carol was super nice and would often slip him some free sweets. Harry pulled his dad into another hug, this one a little more heart-felt. It was a second before he felt his dad whisper in his ear,

“Are you happy, Harry?” It was laced with parental concern, the type of concern it always seemed that his father lacked and it made Harry’s heart swell. He pulled back to look his dad in the eye,

“The happiest I’ve ever been.” He said earnestly, smiling as his dad nodded, turning his attentions to Louis.

“Take care of my boy, you hear?” Louis laughed and agreed, reaching for Harry’s hand and lacing their fingers together as if to prove his point. And with that his dad got back into his car a drove out of the school grounds. Louis didn’t let go of Harry’s hand until they were locked safely in the confines of Harry’s bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished! Hooray!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading my sweet little angels x


End file.
